Relief in Sight

Tuition tax aid nears passage

As Delaware's Republican Senator William V. Roth sees it, there are three distinct classes in the U.S. where higher education is concerned: l)"the very rich," who can afford the best colleges; 2)"the very poor," who can meet skyrocketing costs only because of various aid programs; and 3)"the very taxed," those middle-income Americans who have no easy way to pay their kids' bloated bills. Inflation has kicked their incomes not only into higher tax brackets but also out of the grant and loan market. At the same time, their after-tax income is barely keeping pace with soaring tuition costs.

For months Congress and the White House have been fine-tuning measures designed to bail out the Middle American, differing sharply in their approaches. Last week, in a display of irresolution that was unusual even for Capitol Hill, the Senate approved both approaches by large margins. First the Senate approved, 65 to 27, a bill proposed by Roth that would grant to parents an immediate tax credit of 50% of tuition and fees for every child in a college or post-secondary vocational school up to a ceiling of $250; the limit would be raised to $500 a child in the fall of 1980. Cost to the Government: an estimated $1.8 billion annually.

President Carter has threatened to veto any tuition tax credit measure, preferring instead to step up aid in the form of direct federal grants and loans to post-secondary school students. His own proposal, sponsored by Rhode Island Democrat Claiborne Pell, passed the Senate by a 68-to-28 count, barely 14 hours after the tax credit vote. After the Pell measure was okayed, Oklahoma Republican Henry Bellmon chided his colleagues, declaring: "I cannot imagine why we would pass two bills on two successive days to accomplish essentially the same objective." As it happens, the House--which approved its own $1.1 billion tax credit package June 1--has the President's proposal buried in committee. Its chances of passage seem dim.

House and Senate conferees will now hammer out a version of the tuition tax credit bill acceptable to both chambers, and one controversial provision is likely to draw spirited debate. The House version grants credits for private and parochial school costs. But in the Senate vote last week, a measure to extend the tax credits to families with children attending private or parochial elementary and secondary schools was shot down. Heavy lobbying and concern over the First Amendment's separation of church and state led to its downfall.

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