[Cyph0n]

It depends on the university.

Here at Georgia Tech, which is a state university, TAs and RAs get an in-state tuition waiver instead of a full tuition waiver. In other words, you get to pay less tuition than if you came in as an out-of-state student.

But you still don't pay in-state tuition: the professor who funds your RA (or department in case of a TA) pays your in-state tuition on top of your stipend.

So there really are no "accounting tricks" going on since the tuition is covered by either faculty funds (e.g., external grants) or the relevant department's budget.

[pc86]

> the professor who funds your RA (or department in case of a TA) pays your in-state tuition on top of your stipend.

That sounds like income.

[Cyph0n]

Sure, I guess. The stipend is taxed by the way, just like regular income.

For me personally, taxing the tuition benefit would be the "straw that broke the camel's back". I believe that the only thing keeping the PhD system running (for domestic students at least) is the fact that it's fully funded and not taxed. If you take that away, many students like myself will just not continue.

In a nutshell, if you want to ruin the US academic research system, tax our tuition waiver​. Europe will suddenly​ become much more attractive, even for US citizens...

[praneshp]

The in-state tuition or the stipend? The stipend is taxed like a payroll tax..

[praneshp]

Since when do TAs get that benefit? Back when I was a TA, we just got $15 an hour* 15 hours a week.

[Cyph0n]

Firstly, it depends on the major and university. Secondly, out of state tuition here is around $20k per semester...

[praneshp]

Yeah yeah, I was in CS at Tech a while (~5 years) ago. I paid that out-of-state tuition for a semester.

[Cyph0n]

I'm in ECE, but I don't think CS is different. From what I know, TAs are per-semester and not hourly contracts.