2008 Woodie Awards
College Tax Credit Bill Announced in the Senate
Parents of college students may get tax break if passed
Alex Wood
Issue date: 3/9/05 Section: News
On Wednesday Feb. 23, the same day Goucher President Sanford J. Ungar announced a tuition increase, one of Maryland's United States Senators, Barbara A. Mikulski (D), was up the road at Towson University making an announcement of her own on a related matter.
In response to the increasingly high cost of a college education, Mikulski will introduce legislation this week that will make college more affordable. Mikulski said, "College is part of the American dream. It shouldn't be part of a financial nightmare for families. College tuition is on the rise. Our students are graduating with so much debt it's like their first mortgage."
The proposed legislation would enact a $4000 tax credit for each year that either a traditional or non-traditional student is enrolled in college or graduate school. The credit would be deducted from the final amount a family owes in federal taxes, and it could be applied to each student in the family.
"The Mikulski proposal would represent a very substantial increase over existing levels of federal aid supporting college students and their tuition expense. [It] is essentially an award of $4000 to each student, not a loan or a tax deduction," said Nicholas Brown, Assistant Professor of political science.
Colleges and universities would benefit indirectly from the legislation as well.
According to Goucher's controller, Laura Reames, "Goucher benefits any time our students and their parents receive help for their tuition bills. This will not change our policies and practices or provide any additional direct funding. However, we understand that education is important, but costly, and support any effort to help families pay for it."
Reames also explained that the ability for families to get up to $4000 in tax refunds if the total they owe for taxes falls below the amount of the credit is one of the bill's strong points.
Despite the merits of the bill, it is likely that the measure will fail to pass. "Though it sounds like a good piece of policy, I'm skeptical that it can pass in the current political climate," said Brown. "That is a climate of Republican control of the government and huge budget deficits."
Aides to Senator Mikulski report that the bill has no co-sponsors as of yet, but they hope that other Senators will latch on as public support for it begins to build.
In response to the increasingly high cost of a college education, Mikulski will introduce legislation this week that will make college more affordable. Mikulski said, "College is part of the American dream. It shouldn't be part of a financial nightmare for families. College tuition is on the rise. Our students are graduating with so much debt it's like their first mortgage."
The proposed legislation would enact a $4000 tax credit for each year that either a traditional or non-traditional student is enrolled in college or graduate school. The credit would be deducted from the final amount a family owes in federal taxes, and it could be applied to each student in the family.
"The Mikulski proposal would represent a very substantial increase over existing levels of federal aid supporting college students and their tuition expense. [It] is essentially an award of $4000 to each student, not a loan or a tax deduction," said Nicholas Brown, Assistant Professor of political science.
Colleges and universities would benefit indirectly from the legislation as well.
According to Goucher's controller, Laura Reames, "Goucher benefits any time our students and their parents receive help for their tuition bills. This will not change our policies and practices or provide any additional direct funding. However, we understand that education is important, but costly, and support any effort to help families pay for it."
Reames also explained that the ability for families to get up to $4000 in tax refunds if the total they owe for taxes falls below the amount of the credit is one of the bill's strong points.
Despite the merits of the bill, it is likely that the measure will fail to pass. "Though it sounds like a good piece of policy, I'm skeptical that it can pass in the current political climate," said Brown. "That is a climate of Republican control of the government and huge budget deficits."
Aides to Senator Mikulski report that the bill has no co-sponsors as of yet, but they hope that other Senators will latch on as public support for it begins to build.