Tuition Will Be Tax Shelter If Congress Approves Reform

Undergraduate tuition may become a tax shelter, since the Senate version of the Tax Reform Act of 1976 includes a credit for any taxpayers paying undergraduate tuition for themselves, spouses or dependents.

The tax credit for undergraduate tuition must first survive a Senate-House conference. The House version of the bill does not include the provision for tuition.

The tax credit, sponsored by Sen. William Roth (R-Del.), would begin at $100 a year for 1977-78, reaching a $250 ceiling in 1980.

A Senate Budget Committee staff member said yesterday that the Roth proposal "will probably die in conference." But Roth's office said that they are "optimistic and hopeful" about the outcome on the conference.

Opponents of the proposal say that educational aid should be directed specifically at lower and lower-middle income groups. This, they clam, would be a more effcient use of the $1.1 billion the proposal will cost by fiscal 1981.

R. Jerrold Gibson '51, director of fiscal services, said yesterday that the Roth proposal would probably not affect Harvard's aid programs, adding, however, that "since the amount of the parents' contribution and their taxes are part of the decision, it's conceivable that it could have an affect, but I would say it's almost insignificant, certainly at $100."

Other changes in federal aid are more certain, including widening of eligibility for Guaranteed Students Loans and Basic Education Opportunity Grants, more attempts to reach middle income groups through expansion of two existing programs, and expansion of direct grants and laons.