Gratitude for Grad School & Why Higher Education is at Risk

In the 2017 Thanksgiving season, I am thankful for many things—not the least, friends who are willing to drive almost 2,000 miles to visit me, a fiancé I can Skype every night, and family who sends me care packages. But one thing stands out in my mind this particular year: my gratitude for graduate school.

I am thankful for the ability to seek higher education. I am thankful for professors who are passionate about writing and literature. I am thankful that the University of Iowa saw the importance of mentoring young writers and established the first Master of Fine Arts in creative writing program in 1936. I am thankful for my fellow grad students who read and critique my work, who dedicate hours to peer feedback. I am thankful to be in an environment that is nurturing my abilities as a writer.

But right now, what I am most thankful for is the ability to go to graduate school at all.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that most people assume writers aren't going to make big bucks; unless, you're J.K. Rowling, you're probably going to need a day job to be a writer. After achieving a bachelor's degree, many students are already in debt thousands of dollars—it's difficult for a creative writing major to imagine putting themselves in even more debt to get a master's degree in creative writing for a less-than-lucrative career.

According to the Association of Writers and Poets, the average in-state cost of an MFA in creative writing program is around $20,000. While this isn't an exorbitant cost when compared with some graduate programs, the day job that many MFA graduates seek is teaching creative writing at the college level, which isn't particularly profitable. If you look at the U.S. Department of Labor's statistics, the average salary of an assistant professor in creative writing (think entry-level position that could lead to tenure eventually) is only in the realm of $50,000. This is also a competitive field that requires a willingness to move across the country, not only to obtain an MFA, but also to find a job.

I like to think I am a realistic person. When I decided to pursue my MFA, I told myself and my parents that I would not attend any school that did not give me full funding. My goal of becoming a professor and published author was not worth digging myself into debt, first and foremost. I also knew that I was seeking an MFA in order to give myself time and space to write. I worked two to three jobs at a time during undergrad—an experience that was creatively draining and led to my longest writing drought ever—and I knew that if I was serious about being a novelist and professor, I needed to focus on my studies during grad school. Luckily, I stepped out in faith and was accepted to Minnesota State University with a teaching assistantship that allows me tuition remission and a stipend for living expenses. 

The tuition at MNSU for my graduate program is about $3,500 per semester. This puts the total cost of tuition for all three years at over $21,000. The only way I am able to attend this program is by working as a teaching assistant. Even then, I am fully aware that I am putting myself at risk by living paycheck to paycheck in order to obtain this degree. My stipend for living expenses is only about $1,000 a month, which is enough for rent, utilities, groceries, and gas each month without much, if any, wiggle room. I also have to pay about $400 in student fees each semester, as well as covering the cost of textbooks out of pocket. Breaking even is not a good feeling when I've spent my whole life trying to be on financially stable ground, but it is vital that I seek an MFA to fulfill my passion in life—and breaking even is infinitely better than going into debt.

However, my thankfulness for being able to attend grad school—and to MNSU for giving me a TA position that allows me to work only one job while obtaining my degree—might be short-lived. On Nov. 17, the GOP successfully passed their Tax Cuts and Jobs Act through the House to the sound of claps and cheers. For some, this reform bill might seem like a positive change, but for me, it's a nightmare.

According to CNBC, the bill would increase taxes on graduate students by as much as 400%. For the roughly 145,000 students in the U.S. like me who receive tuition wavers in exchange for assistantships and cost of living stipends, our taxable income would expand to our tuition wavers and our stipends. This means that my taxable income would go from about $9,000 per year to $16,000 per year, despite the fact that my income hasn't actually increased. One-hundred percent of that $7,000 that I receive as a tuition waver goes towards my education in order to obtain my MFA in creative writing—I see none of it. Pretending that this is income that I am receiving is downright absurd. 

Journalist and author Kurt Eichenwald put it this way: Imagine you have no money, so you work as a serf for food. The government then charges 25% of the cost of the food to you as taxes. But you still have no money to pay because all you've received in exchange for your work is the food, not actual money.

That's what the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act does to grad students. We work for universities in exchange for tuition waivers (and stipends, but those are already taxed), which means we aren't making money to use towards the new tuition waiver taxes. Unless we can pay the IRS with teaching experience, in simple terms, we're screwed.

Example of how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act might affect a graduate student.

Samantha Hernandez, legislative director of the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students, told CNBC that the Grad Student Tax would make it financially impossible to earn a Ph.D. in the United States. It astounds me that the GOP, time and again, is willing to sacrifice societal progression and equality of opportunity at the altar of financial gain.

For fields like mine that are already vulnerable due to the reality of lower-paying jobs after graduation, this tax reform bill could have detrimental consequences. This could make it financially unfeasible to get an MFA in creative writing for many students, including myself, without having to work multiple jobs and putting undue financial strain on those who are only trying to better themselves through higher education. I don't want to have to choose between having time to complete my homework and having the money to pay for groceries—but this is the position the GOP will put me in if this bill is not amended by the Senate.

And for students like those in the example shown above, who receive both larger stipends and larger tuition waivers, often for STEM fields at distinguished universities, the Grad Student Tax would devastate their financial stability and ability to afford the necessities. Worse, it would discourage young people from seeking graduate degrees in these fields that most often offer tuition wavers, which would stymie medical, mathematical, technological, and intellectual progress in this country. Does the GOP really want America to be great? Because preventing dedicated young people from pursuing higher education probably isn't the way to do it.

Right now, I will remain to be thankful for the opportunity to pursue an MFA at a school with passionate professors and hardworking students without having to sacrifice my financial or academic future—while that lasts.