Opportunities and Announcements for the Week of December 4, 2017

Next week begins our final week of classes before final exams and papers conclude the Fall 2017 semester.  As our students and faculty focus on completing coursework and evaluating student learning, the US Congress is considering a major revision of the tax code.  Proposed changes in the code are likely to have serious and negative consequences for higher education – not just in terms of the impact of the legislation on universities such as ours, but also in terms of the impact on the US population, including high school students applying for college admissions, college and university students planning on attending graduate school, and faculty and staff of universities who hope to extend their own education or to send their children on to higher education.
 
As the American Council on Education explains,

“The tax code contains a number of provisions, enacted independently over time, that together create a framework that functions as a kind of “three-legged stool” intended to advance three important goals: 1) encourage saving for higher education; 2) help students and families pay for college; and 3) assist with the repayment of student loans. This framework serves the needs of low- and middle-income students and families as they invest in themselves and in higher education.”

“In addition, students and families benefit from the non-profit tax-exempt status of public and private colleges and universities through charitable giving, endowments, and tax-exempt bond financing benefits, all of which help institutions to provide financial aid and advance their teaching, research and public service missions.”

Three provisions, among several, could have negative consequences.  First, former students who are paying off their student loans would no longer be able to deduct the interest payments on these loans.  The House version of the tax reform bill would end the Student Loan Interest Deduction (SLID) available in current tax law.
 
Second, “the House bill would repeal Sec. 117(d)(5), which provides for the tax exemption of tuition waivers for graduate students serving as teaching and research assistants.”  Graduate students earn very little in actual stipends.  In addition to providing tuition waivers, Ohio State University provides some of its political science graduate students with a University Fellowship that pays $25,296 per year; the University of Chicago funds its political science University graduate Fellows at approximately the same level.  It would be a challenge for graduate students to pay tax on tuition from their graduate stipend alone.  OSU graduate tuition, in-state, is more than $12,000; for out-of-state students, tuition tops $33,000.  The University of Chicago tuition is $18,612 a quarter, or more than $55,000 year.
 
Third, “the House bill would repeal Sec. 117(d), Sec. 117(d)(5), and Sec. 127, which would make tuition waivers and exemptions included under estimated gross income (EGI) taxable and would increase the taxable income for many campus employees, as well as graduate students.”  Universities and colleges offer (under current law) tax-free tuition benefits to their employees and dependents, helping institutions of higher education attract motivated employees, helping those employed to further their education, and giving the dependents of those employees access to higher education.  An employee at CWRU (in, e.g., Grade 02) making the maximum annual income of $30,191 would be hard-pressed to pay the tax on the tuition for a child enrolled at CWRU ($23,537/semester); under the current tax code, the tuition benefit is not taxed as income.  Although the Senate version of the bill does not include this change, differences between the House and Senate versions of the legislation will be reconciled in conference, where some of the protections in the Senate bill could disappear.
 
Why is support for higher education important in the tax code?  The tax code underscores the values of the country and provides incentives for behavior that the US, as a nation, hopes to encourage.  Graduate school is, of course, not for everyone, but graduate school is not for nobody.  Graduate school is the source of the future professoriate; it is the source of the highest level of research and scholarship; it undergirds the development of new bodies of knowledge.  Similarly, college is not for everyone, but college is not for no one.  Encouraging those with the preparation and the necessary talents, interests, and experience to attend university, and to do so without permanently damaging themselves financially, is the right thing to do.
 
You can read more at http://www.acenet.edu/Pages/Higher-Education-and-Tax-Reform.aspx.  Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) are both members of the Senate Finance Committee.  Senator Brown can be reached through his website at https://www.brown.senate.gov/contact; Senator Portman can be contacted through his website at https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form.
 
A Few Quick Reminders.  Registration for Spring 2017 courses continues.  Most of our upper-division courses still have space for additional students.  Despite their 300-level number, there are no prerequisites for upper-division POSC courses and students are welcome to enroll in them.  Note that several of our spring courses are offered only every other year; e.g. POSC363 Comparative Elections and Electoral Systems, and POSC374 The Politics of Development in the Global South, will not be offered in the next academic year; the same is the case for POSC378 International Relations Theory, a course (like POSC363) that fulfills the SAGES Departmental Seminar requirement.  As this fall semester draws to its close, we look forward to having you in our courses in the coming spring semester. 
 
Regarding POSC396 Senior Capstone Projects in Political Science, students hoping to complete POSC396 in the spring term should be talking now with likely capstone supervisors before the end of this semester, to identify a good capstone topic, as well as the most appropriate (and available) faculty member to direct them.
For more information about POSC396, see here. 
 
Now is the time to start preparing for summer internships.  For political science majors, see the opportunities through the Wellman Hill Public Service Internships Program here.  Internship opportunities are also listed on the Department’s webpage at http://politicalscience.case.edu/category/internships/.
 
Finally, our alumna Cheyenne Chambers (BA POSC, MA HSTY 2011) will return to campus to give a public lecture titled “A Story of Perseverance.” on Friday, December 8, at 2:00pm in Mather House 100. Ms. Chambers earned her law degree from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and currently practices at the law firm of Tin Fulton Walker & Owen; she most recently argued a case before the North Carolina Supreme Court.  See the flyer advertising Ms. Chambers’ lecture and the various events associated with her visit.
 
With all best wishes for the last week of classes of the fall term,
Karen
 
“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”