Many graduate students receiving stipends for research or teaching are being audited by the Internal Revenue Service. The situation is puzzling and angering administrators because the stipends have previously been considered tax-exempt. (MSE)

The Internal Revenue Service has acknowledged that audits of graduate students receiving stipends were based on inconsistent interpretations of tax law but deny any policy to increase monitoring of graduate students' tax returns. (MSE)

The House Postsecondary Education Subcommittee called hearings to give higher education officials a chance to respond to accusations that colleges are greedy and spend as much as they can. Program duplication, tax breaks for parents, tuition increases, and a call for college audits are discussed. (MLW)

A new lobbying strategy by six universities, designed to show Congress that higher education may be willing to give up some tax advantages under current law, is also criticized as a tactical error when Congress is just beginning to consider changes in the tax law affecting nonprofit groups. (MSE)