Tax cuts and STEM

The tax reform bill has been referred to as a big tax cut by its proponents, but it would in fact vastly increase the tax burden on one group of lower-income people and end up hurting our nation's technological competitiveness. The group is the many graduate students in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields who receive a small living allowance and a tuition waiver from their universities in order to pursue their research and studies.

The legislation would tax the tuition waivers as income, meaning the tax burden could go up by 30-60 percent for a graduate student at a public university and as high as 240 percent for one at a private university, according to one analysis.

Because the graduate stipends often barely cover minimum living expenses, this additional tax levy will have a disproportionate effect on such students; it will surely prevent some from pursuing advanced degrees. Moreover, the proposed repeal of the interest deduction for student loans would also affect many students' ability to pursue even an undergraduate diploma.

Our country needs highly educated people in order to compete successfully in the many technology-based industries of the 21st century. We should not be discouraging some of our best minds from furthering their education and conducting advanced research. I urge readers to contact their representatives in Congress to oppose this huge tax increase on graduate students.

Cliff Darnall

Schaumburg