U.S. Senator Tim Scott was named to the Conference Committee by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. A graduate of SCICU member Charleston Southern University, Sen. Scott is personally familiar with the challenges of access and affordability in today's higher education environment. SCICU has been in contact with Sen. Scott's office to ensure that Sen. Scott and his tax team have the necessary information for him to advocate for common sense tax policies that would not increase the cost of a post-secondary education for students and their families or the higher education institutions that serve them.

The Senate's version of the tax bill is less onerous than the House's bill, so at this point, higher education advocates are urging Conferees to support most of the Senate's positions on tax policies, except those that are not in the best interest of the sector. The differences are detailed below.

House vs. Senate Tax Bill Comparison

Student Benefits

House Version - Eliminates Student Loan Deduction, Sec. 127 employer-provided education asistance, Sec. 117(d) tuition remission benefits, and the Lifetime Learning Credit.

Senate Version - Maintains student benefits.

Institutions - Private Activity Bonds

House Version - Eliminates Private Activity bonds and advance refunding of bonds.

Senate Version - Retains Private Activity bonds. Eliminates advance refunding of bonds.

Institutions - Excise Tax on Endowments

House Version - Adds an excise tax on private college and university endowments with assets of $250,000+ per full-time student.

Senate Version - Adds an excise tax on private college and university endowments with assets of $500,000+ per full-time student.

There are other elements of H.R. 1 that the House and Senate are in complete agreement that could threaten donations to private colleges and universities and other non-profit organizations. For example, both chambers double the standard deduction. This action will put separate deductions for charitable giving out of reach to 95% of taxpayers and by some estimates could reduce donations to eleemosynary organizations by as much as $13 billion.

Congress must correct the adverse unintended consequence on giving caused by increasing the standard deduction by extending a charitable giving incentive to all taxpayers. SCICU encourages Members of Congress to pass the Universal Charitable Giving Act ( H.R.3988 / S.2123) which would allow non-itemizers to deduct up to $4,000/individual and $8,000/couple each year.

SCICU has joined other state and national independent higher education interest groups and the colleges and universities that support them in urging our elected officials to preserve important tax benefits to students and their families and to avoid additional taxes on our higher education institutions.

On November 7, as the House began work on H.R. 1, SCICU wrote all nine members of the South Carolina Delegation to make our positions known. SCICU President Mike LeFever met with Reps. Clyburn and Wilson on November 13, and a second letter was sent to Senators Graham and Scott on November 21 as the House bill moved to the Senate Finance Committee. Several SCICU member presidents also contacted Delegation members to express in very personal terms how tax reform legislation will impact their students and institutions.

In one final effort to enlist the SC delegation to influence their colleagues to temper tax increases on students, families, and college and universities, a third letter was sent to Washington on December 6.

Whatever the outcome, private colleges and universities will continue to do everything possible to keep costs down and make a college education accessible and affordable.

Please click here  to read the original post on the SCICU website.

Other SCICU posts related to tax reform include the following:

November 22, 2017 - Tax Reform: Senate vs. House vs. Higher Education

November 16, 2017 - Tax Reform Could Increase the Cost of a College Degree

SCICU Business Partner First American Education Finance, through its Education First Program, has made it possible for SCICU to make a $100 contribution to a local classroom school project.

Education First is a charitable program that allows First American to give back to local communities through its partners in a way that supports classroom projects that will directly impact students.

The $100 gift provided to SCICU by First American was donated on behalf of SCICU to Cayce Elementary School in the Columbia area to provide 3Doodler pens to Mrs.Dorn's classroom. The 3Doodler company matched the $100 contribution made by SCICU for a total gift of $200. 

The 3Doodler is a 3D pen that works by extruding heated plastic that cools almost instantly into a solid, stable structure, allowing for the free-hand creation of three-dimensional objects.

SCICU extends many thanks to Matt Rankin and the First American Education Finance team for making the $200 donation to Cayce Elementary School possible. 

According to the policy, the Chief Integrity Officer is a person appointed by the chair of the SCICU Board of Trustees who can assure that there will be a fair and impartial investigation of any allegation of improper conduct and that the outcome of the investigation will be based on the merits. The Chief Integrity Officer reports directly to the Board of Trustees. Copies of the policy are provided to new trustees during orientation and are available from the SCICU office.

The SCICU Board of Trustees has adopted a Conflict of Interest Policy "to protect the interest of SCICU when it is contemplating entering into a transaction or arrangement that might benefit the private interest of an officer or trustee..." This policy was recommended by the Finance Committee to improve the organization's governance and transparency and to be able to respond more confidently when filing IRS Form 990.

The Conflict of Interest Policy requires that each SCICU officer and trustee must annually: (1) receive a copy of the policy, (2) read, understand, and agree to comply with the policy, (3) disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest, and (4) file a signed statement agreeing to abide by SCICU's Conflict of Interest Policy.

A Conflict of Interest package was sent to all SCICU trustees in November.  This package included the SCICU Conflict of Interest Policy and a Conflict of Interest Form.

SCICU Board members are reminded that their signed Conflict of Interest statements are due by December 20 and should be emailed to Shay West (shay@scicu.org) or faxed to (803) 254-7504.

SCICU's 2017-18 College Guide is now available online! This digital guide to twenty independent colleges and universities in South Carolina is designed for easy viewing on mobile devices ( and it's easy to share with friends, too!).

The guide includes detailed scholarship and financial aid info, and is full of other tips to help parents and students choose the college or university that best suits their higher education needs.

Please click here to access SCICU's 2017-18 Digital College Guide.