Like many cities, Pittsburgh is dealing with its own financial crisis. But unlike other cities, Pittsburgh aims to make up some of the difference by taxing college students, as
reported in The Wall Street Journal.
On November 9, the mayor of Pittsburgh proposed his plan to initiate a 1% tuition tax on the students of the city's many colleges. This is the first time such a tax has been proposed in any city, and politicians estimate the levy could raise about $16 million.
The thing is, taxing the college students of Pittsburgh is like forcing your star pupil to clap erasers after class. Pittsburgh is a pretty big college town, hosting approximately 85,000 students, and it's academic institutions have been
really good for the city. They helped it rebound from its defunct steeltown status to a hub for technological, environmental, and medical advances. September's G20 meeting was hosted in Pittsburgh, and I can't imagine that happening without the amazing research strides made by schools like Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.
If this tax goes into place, it will likely deter new students from coming to Pittsburgh, thus punishing the very institutions that have given the city life.
Some other reasons the tuition tax is a terrible idea:
- Over half of Pittsburgh's students live in Pittsburgh, which means they'll be subject to what one graduate student called "a double taxation," since they will still have to pay property taxes.
- Since tuitions vary, the tax won't be even across the board, ranging from $27 per student at the Community College of Allegheny County to $409 at Carnegie Mellon.
- Pittsburgh is facing a $600 million pension deficit, as well as scrounging to support its public libraries. But is the $16 million the city stands to gain—much smaller than $600 million—worth alienating both current and prospective students?
- Since a tax like this does not exist anywhere else, passing it might set a dangerous precedent for other college-dense cities throughout the country.
What do you think of the proposed tuition tax?Image Source
Comments (25)
Haha!!!! Like students or their parents can afford an additional college expense....
I feel like this might make students likely to transfer to other schools in Pennsylvania.
I think that's BS. Students in the area help the local economy, so then they go and tax them more. Real nice.
If I were looking at colleges, I would stay the heck away from Pittsburgh. 1% today, 5% tomorrow.I doubt that it will actually deter anyone from switching schools - especially those that are already paying over $40k for school! Another $400 isnt a big deal.
@der_lila_Stern@xanga - Yeah, I don't know if it will make that many people transfer, but if you're just a high school student applying to schools, it might make you less likely to choose Pittsburgh.
@sarah - I still think it is doubtful. In the grand scheme of things, the tax really isnt very much!
I think that this is a really, really bad idea. Ridiculous. Especially if this becomes a trend. This is going to hurt the colleges, and if it becomes a trend everywhere, its going to hurt a vast majority of potential students. Which...really doesn't say much good for society itself. With as much emphasis that is already put on higher education for good jobs, it isn't going to be helpful to anyone to drastically decrease the likely number of people who will be getting the higher education those employers are looking for.
Gahh. I heard about this. Such bullshit. Us, college kids are broke enough as it is not to mention the thousands of dolllars of student loans and such we still have to pay back afterwards.
People will come up with anything to get money nowadays. >.<
Hrm. So they pay for the universities with tax dollars, then pay to use them through tutition and applied fees.
So now they tax what they already pay for twice if they attend and once if they do not?
This is why I am pretty much an anarchist.
Students, parents, and teachers will bitch about the tax for a couple months and then they'll forget about it after the next outrage and pay it without complaint, and the injustice will prevail, as it always does.
Carnegie Mellon's my top grad school choice right now. Not surprisingly, I'm not particularly fond of that proposal.
....AND they lost the game today.
what a world.
bummer.
hahah, kind of tired of hearing about this, since I am a Pittsburgh student... You should probably also mention the boost that college students give to the local economy. One of my friends has actually started up at least two companies in his time at school here, generating plenty of revenue and jobs. And he's just ONE enterprising student. There's thousands of us!
It's also been mentioned that this tax would fall on international students as well, who are not represented by anyone in the government. What happened to no taxation without representation? Didn't that used to be an American ideal?
@der_lila_Stern@xanga - at my $40K a year school, I know several people who hold part-time jobs, receive financial aid, and apply to every scholarship they qualify for, just to make ends meet. Don't tell me that just because they are paying $40K a year doesn't mean an additional $400 won't hurt them.
colleges across the globe are ALREADY raising school tuition costs by upwards of %5 depending on the source. Already, the bachelor's degree is no better than the college equivalent of a highschool diploma, and less and less people are even capable of affording one semester at college without putting themselves into debt the rest of their lives.
WHAT THE FUCK?!?! now they want to add an additional burden? It's no wonder this country is going to shit.
@black_lie@xanga - I went to a $40k a year school and worked full time as well as scholarships and anything else I can get. I understand what it is like to make ends meet. But I picked that school for the program and what the name on my diploma would mean. An extra $400 a year would not have deterred me even a little. People dont go to $40k/year schools because they think it would be fun to have lots of debt - there has to be a good reason. That reason is almost always bigger than an extra $1600 over the course of a degree.
@der_lila_Stern@xanga - but still, if you didn't have to pay $400 extra/year, that'd be nice. Especially if you're already scrimping and saving!
@black_lie@xanga - I agree totally! I will take any savings or extra money I can get!
Seriously?!
Do they realize how stupid this is?
I don't think many other college towns are going to do this... not the ones that understand where their money comes from, anyway. On the other hand I've heard my barely eighteen roommate say some things about money that made me cringe so this might work.
@black_lie@xanga - Those are some really good points, thanks :)
This is one of the stupidest things I have heard. Every day you see stories about how Americans aren't educated enough, how many choose not to go to college etc... You'd think they'd make college less, not more expensive.
Not to mention colleges bring in large numbers of students and faculty, who spend money in the city and producing tax revenues. The city should be encouraging college students if they want to increase their tax receipts, not discouraging them...
@a_lphabetsoup@xanga - I go to the University of Pittsburgh and I can tell you, it DOES make me want to transfer to another school! Being punished because I chose to go to a school in the city of Pittsburgh which houses UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) which is home to about 4 hospitals, including Children's Hospital and thousands of jobs and I chose to contribute to my hometown area and keep jobs (teachers, staff, etc) in the area? All because "students aren't contributing enough" according to our awful mayor.
If I were an incoming freshman, this would make me reconsider my college options, FOR SURE. Because I agree, it's double taxation! Maybe even triple for me??? I'm paying a tax to the town where I work, which isn't Pittsburgh then another to the town where my family lives where my permenant address is, THEN NOW TO PITTSBURGH? Where again, I live AND go to school.
I REALLY, REALLY hope more people read this story... because it's so relevant to people of all ages. I'm a Democrat and strongly agree with people than can help helping, but really... I feel as if this is a punishment. What's next? So it would mean $409 for CMU students the first year... then what happens when it's raised to 2% next year? Then 5% five years from now because we're still in a defecit. Ugh... I really hope students read this and stop this from happening in their own city! And fight what's happening in Pittsburgh right now!
I am a student at the University of Pittsburgh and I'm paying for my own tuition. My parents aren't really helping me with expenses at all. The last thing I need is an additional tax after all the debt I'm incurring in student loans, and I know that many students are in the same position as me. Also, I live in the city of Pittsburgh so I would be subject to the double taxation. This proposal is a terrible idea, and is definitely going to be a deterrent for prospective students. In the long run, the tax isn't going to raise the money they want when the student population decreases because of it.
Thank God I didn't get in to Pitt! hahaha. It makes the pain of rejection slightly less horrible.
The colleges in the UC system are suffering too. I go to UC Berkeley and they are raising tuition by 32% next year. When one of my professors asked our 150 person class how many could afford to go here next year, something like 20% of the class raised their hands. There have been protests all over California among all the UC colleges against raising tuition by so much. California's education already sucks and now we're only hurting ourselves more by disinvesting in our future.
More and more money goes into making prison life comfortable, but do they really need all their healthcare needs covered, TVs, and 3 square meals a day when a lot of college kids can't even afford it? What kind of human rights is it when you treat your college aged students shittier than prisoners? Obviously college aged students are going to contribute more to society than prisoners are, so why the hell do we spend so much more on them and keep taking from education?
ya i go to ucdavis and m tution just went up 32% too. and its so frustrating coz our chancellor even got a 85k raise. so its just messed up that we are teh ones that have to pay. theyve already arrested 52 ppl for peacefully protesting and things are just getting worse. it sux that we have to pay so much for an education...