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(KMSP) - Graduate students at the University of Minnesota are panicking about the GOP Tax Reform Bill, which could cause many to drop out of their programs.
Teaching assistants and fellow Ph.D.s held a meeting Tuesday night to help students understand their options. Many say if the bill becomes law, there's just no way they can continue their studies here.
Now, they're demanding university leaders to step in and take action.
"[We’re feeling] anger, disgust that people are trying to inhibit graduate students, Ph.D. students to study and pursue their dream and their life," said Sam Froiland, who’s studying to become a history professor.
However, if the proposed Tax Reform Bill - just passed in the House of Representatives - were to become law, Froiland said there's no way he could afford it.
"I would no longer be able to study what I'm studying right now. I would not be able to foot the bill, pay rent and afford food, expenses, etc.," he said.
As it stands now, the tax bill would count graduate tuition waivers as taxable income.
Accountant Douglas McDonald broke down the numbers for us.
"Let's say they got $40,000 of tuition waived in a year. That could mean thousands, maybe $10,000 - maybe more, maybe less - of additional tax they would have to pay that they would have to come up with some way," he said.
International students already pay more to attend graduate study programs, and they would be taxed even more.
"We are also not allowed to work outside of the school, so we have employment restrictions, and at the same time, we can't call our representatives because we are non-voters and those things seem to be forgotten," said international grad student Natalia Vargas Marquez.
The students say higher education shouldn't be available to people of wealth and privilege. They're hoping to work with university leaders to come up with a solution.
"We're also calling on the university to take action on this and defend graduate students, to recognize that we really are living in precarious conditions," said grad student Elena Gambino.
McDonald said if this tax reform bill goes into law, a possibility would be for universities to increase what they pay students. Otherwise, students may have to take out even more loans.