Lobbying in DC

The real purpose for my trip home was to lobby in DC for grad student issues. I went as part of the new SAGE coalition, which was dreamt up by the outgoing UT GSA President. It is a group of grad student leaders from the graduate governance organizations of the top public universities around the country. UT hosted a conference with them last fall so that we can share ideas and work together. Then the group planned this trip to DC. I haven't been involved at all with SAGE, but the GSA President offered me a free trip to DC and I couldn't turn that down (especially with Foxfield on the same weekend).

There were two issues that we were really pushing (these were decided upon in pre-planning so I just said what I was told). The first is to change the tax code so that graduate fellowships and scholarships are no longer taxed. Apparently it used to be that way before 1986. It does seem silly for the government to give you money (say through the NSF) and then take 10%-15% of it back in taxes. Ideally this would extend to RA and TA stipends, but that's a harder sell so that wasn't our focus.

The second issue was about grad student indebtedness. Grad students average $42,500 in debt upon graduation. We supported the administration's expansion of the Perkins loan program. We also asked for the expansion of things like the Javits Fellowships and asked for research support in the humanities, social sciences, and the arts analagous to the current support from the NSF and NIH. Then the big item was to ask for loan forgiveness for grad students who go into public service after graduating. This was included in last year's Higher Ed Act, but it requires that you pay off your loan for 10 (consecutive) years as a public servant before you get the rest of your loan forgiven - not ideal.

I did lobbying like this with NAGPS when I was GSA President a few years ago. While I like the SAGE group better I will say that NAGPS was way more organized, so this time was a little frustrating. Also, the first time you go it is really cool to see all the offices and feel a part of things, but the second time it is just kinda monotonous and boring. It also seems a little futile since everything takes so long to happen (if at all) in congress. So I consider it my duty as a grad student leader and free-trip recipient, but it wasn't super fun. And sorry, I forgot to take pics to share!