(from https://www.snopes.com/tax-plan-graduate-students/)
CLAIM
The Republican tax reform plan would increase the tax burden on graduate students by counting waived tuition as personal income.
WHAT'S TRUE
The House of Representatives' 16 November 2017 version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would tax graduate tuition waivers, and has passed the House.
WHAT'S FALSE
As of 20 November 2017, the Senate version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act keeps the current exemption from taxation on graduate tuition waivers.
WHAT'S UNDETERMINED
Whether the final version of the tax bill, if passed, will include an end to the exemption of tuition waivers from taxation.
(from http://www.teachthought.com/industry/12-data-points-detailing-the-crisis-of-poor-writing-in-america/)
1. Four out of five students are not proficient writers.
2. Even with spell check and a thesaurus on hand, just 27% of students are able to write well-developed essays with proper language use.
3. Even worse, 26.2% of college graduates produce writing that rates as deficient.
4. Fewer than 50% of college seniors feel their writing improved during college.
5. SAT writing scores are falling, too.
6. About 17% of college freshmen require remedial writing classes.
7. The average fourth grader spends fewer than 3 hours per week writing.
8. Students struggle with reading.
9. Poor writing cost employers $3.1 billion per year.
10. Many students prefer texting over composition.
11. Male students are struggling worse than female students.
12. Writing isn’t considered fun by today’s students.
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. . . but it is a glimpse into the mindset of another of our 'diligent' public servants' . . .
(from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/17/representative-virginia-fox-on-student-debt_n_1431050.html)
". . . Representative Virginia Foxx (R - N.C.) expressed either tough love or ambivalence toward students who find themselves deep in debt, depending on who you ask.
Foxx, who is chairwoman of the house Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, said on the Gordon Liddy Radio Show that it took her seven years to finish school. She added that over those seven years, she borrowed nothing.
"I have very little tolerance for people who tell me that they graduate with $200,000 of debt or even $80,000 of debt because there's no reason for that," Foxx continued. "We live in an opportunity society and people are forgetting that. I remind folks all the time that the Declaration of Independence says 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' You don't sit on your butt and have it dumped in your lap."
The Bronx native worked as one of her high school’s janitors before she enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She graduated in 1968, according to her congressional biography.
Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) responded to her comments on Monday afternoon from the house floor.
"Incredibly, the chair of the Subcommittee for Higher Education spoke last week in North Carolina and said, 'I have very little tolerance for people who tell me they graduate with $200,000 in debt or even $80,000 of debt.' Really?
"It is a sad statement when today's Republican party turns its back on a program that helps millions of Americans fulfill their dreams, and that is named after a Republican Senator, Robert Stafford of Vermont," Courtney said.
Foxx’s spokesperson told The Huffington Post via email, “Congresswoman Foxx is concerned about rising college costs and the burdensome effect a large sum of debt can have on a student's future. She believes the focus should be on making college more affordable and providing students and parents with the information necessary to make informed decisions about college and understand the cost and the implications of those personal decisions. . .”
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