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Coalition for an Affordable and Accessible Graduate Education |
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Coalition for an Affordable and Accessible Graduate Education |
The Coalition is a group of graduate and professional student organizations, along with individual universities and higher education groups, working together to make graduate and professional education in the United States available to anyone with the desire and skills to pursue it. We originally came together to address the question of tax exemptions on graduate scholarships, and this page is a resource for information about that campaign.
Legislative Action Day, September 22-23
We held yet another Legislative Action Day in September 2005, asking members to support the HEAEA. This latest effort resulted in 11 more cosponsors, including another member of the critical Ways & Means Committee. This is the most members of Congress we have ever had signed on to our proposal, and represents major progress.
It is unclear when we will do another Washington-based day; our current plan is to pursue a state-by-state strategy focused on Ways & Means members. However, you can still write to your members of Congress using this action alert and ask them to support the HEAEA!
We're On Television!
HEAEA gets local news exposure in Youngstown, Ohio. Rep. Phil English discusses his plan, HR 1380 with students at Penn. State - Shenango and others. Click here to view the newscast from this event.
Contact Your Legislators!
Our friends at the American Medical Student Association have put up a new action alert at http://www.capwiz.com/ams/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7207321 that will allow you to write to your Senators and Congressperson with only one click! Please take action now, even if you sent a letter through our old alert -- this is a new version that contacts new people.
Join our mailing list for regular biweekly updates!
Bill Introduced in House
On March 17th, 2005, Representative Phil English of Pennsylvania introduced H.R. 1380, the Higher Education Affordability and Equity Act (HEAEA). The HEAEA includes language that implements expanded tax exemptions for graduate scholarships, as well as a number of highly important tax incentives for education. We have a number of information documents about this bill, including a one-page summary, Phil English's longer summary or the full text. When you're done, please send a letter to your Representatives and ask them to support this bill! If you want to write your own letter, we've even put together some talking points for you.
Legislative Action Day, February 17-18, 2005
On February 17-18, 2005, graduate and professional students once again traveled to Washington, DC to talk to their legislators about the Higher Education Affordability & Equity Act and other issues facing students. Graduate and professional students from more than 30 Universities and Colleges from over 20 states met with nearly 100 members of the House of Representatives urging their representatives to cosponsor H.R. 1380 when Phil English introduces the bill. On March 17th, 2005, Representative Phil English introduced H.R. 1380 to the House where it has been referred to the Ways and Means committee and the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Graduate and professional students will once again convene in Washington D.C. over the summer to ask their representatives to cosponsor H.R. 1380.
About The Campaign
In the News
Resources for Local and National Action
Our Supporters
Our goal is to broaden the tax exemptions on graduate and professional scholarships and restore a functional status equivalent to what existed prior to the 1986 Internal Revenue Code overhaul. Graduate scholarships generally include both direct tuition reimbursement and a stipend for books, supplies, and living expenses. Although the Code provides an exemption for scholarships (see 26 USC 117), this exemption only covers tuition and required fees and books.
Because graduate education is preparation to be an advanced scholar in a particular field, it does not follow as standardized a curriculum as undergraduate education. As such, most books and supplies needed by graduate students (including personal computers) are not considered "qualified educational expenses". Additionally, most graduate students are older (meaning that they often have child care expenses) and cannot count on their parents for financial support. The net result, as shown by the US Department of Education's 2000 National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey is that while the average aid received yearly by a graduate student is roughly $19,500, the average yearly cost of education for that same student is $26,300. In an era where we are moving into a knowledege-based economy, we cannot afford to drive people away from advanced degrees by adding on this kind of debt.
Based on this clear need, we propose an expansion of the existing exemption for scholarship aid. We initially suggested that the definition of "qualified educational expenses" found in 26 USC 117 should be changed to be equivalent to the "cost of education" defined in the Higher Education Act (20 USC 1087LL). Since then, Congressional legislative counsel has found a better way -- linking graduate scholarships to education savings accounts defined in 26 USC 529 where room and board are treated as "qualified educational expenses". This achieves the same thing, but also makes the tax code simpler, which is nice. You can see the exact language in the text of the HEAEA.
For more information on this proposal and the reasons behind it, we have prepared a fact sheet and a PowerPoint presentation that give more details. You are also welcome to contact Jim Masterson (lcc@nagps.org) , who coordinates this campaign.
Current Status
On March 17, 2005, Representative Phil English
of Pennsylvania introduced H.R. 1380, the Higher Education Affordability and Equity Act. The
HEAEA contains a provision to expand the tax-exempt treatment of all scholarships (graduate
and undergraduate) by expanding the definition of "qualified educational expenses" to include
room, board, and special needs services. It also includes provisions to make student
loan interest more tax-deductible, increase contributions to education savings accounts, and
generally make higher education more affordable at all levels. You can read
a summary of the bill or the bill itself,
plus Mr. English's letter describing it.
We are currently working to build cosponsors for this bill. You can check the list of cosponsors, and if your state's Represenatives aren't on it, send them a letter!
This is a list of newspaper articles and other publicity regarding the campaign, in roughly reverse chronological order.
If your publication is interested in doing an article on this campaign, good contacts include Jenn Unger (lcc@nagps.org, NAGPS and Carnegie Mellon University) and Benita Barnes (president@nagps.org, NAGPS and Michigan State University). You can also find more facts and information in the "Resources" section below.
If you're interested in being part of the campaign or just want to know even more, we've compiled a list of resources to help you.
Groups that support the Coalition include:
Although their status prevents them from directly assisting our lobbying efforts, we have also received expressions of support from foundations and institutes that fund scientific and scholarly endeavors. For an example, see this letter from National Science Foundation Director Rita Colwell.
If you represent a group that's interested in working on this campaign and helping to make graduate education more affordable, please contact Jim (lcc@nagps.org)!