The current tax bill, especially as proposed by the House of Representatives, would irreparably damage American higher education. This petition protests provisions in the tax bill that would have devastating immediate and long-term consequences for graduate students specifically and universities in general. By repealing a number of provisions and altering others, this tax bill dramatically increases taxes for graduate students, many of whom currently live not far above the poverty line. If made into law, this would force many graduate students to either drop out of their programs or take on considerable loan debt. The American system of higher education is the envy of the world and a delicate ecosystem of which graduate education is an irreplaceable component. In order to avert this catastrophic education reform, the undersigned American citizens, educators, and scholars petition the Senate to:

- Vote NO on this bill and any others that place obstacles between low-income students and higher education, and, going forward;

- Retain qualified tuition reduction (26 U.S. Code § 117);

- Retain educational assistance programs (26 U.S. Code § 127);

- Preserve the student loan interest deduction at its current levels;

- And retain the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC), the Hope Scholarship Credit, and other programs and provisions of the tax code that benefit low-income Americans.