There is no academic meritocracy?

In this article, intriguingly called, “The Big Lie About the Life of the Mind,” Chronicle for Higher Education columnist and English Professor William Pannapacker (who goes by the pen name Thomas H. Benton) urges people not to go to graduate school in the humanities. Although the economy is probably doing enough to discourage many people now, his words are certainly worthy bearing in mind. One thing that stuck out to me:

The ranks of new Ph.D.’s and adjuncts these days are mainly composed of people from below the upper-middle class: people who believe from infancy that more education equals more opportunity. They see the professions as a path to security and status.

Definitely this is how education has been viewed in recent decades, to the point where students have paid a premium for it. I think this ties into what I was getting all wound up about the other day–the possibility that our country is over-educated in certain areas.

Also, Pannapacker criticizes professors for luring students into academia by suggesting it unlike other professional venues prizes a meritocracy based around the “life of the mind” over politics, connections and money. He goes on to describe the scenario of a typical grad student who has been so steadily disillusioned by her education and its role in keeping her down that she considers suicide.

Scenarios like that are what irritate me about professors who still bleat on about “the life of mind.” They absolve themselves of responsibility for what happens to graduate students by saying, distantly, “there are no guarantees.”

Because I was complaining yesterday about journalism industry people failing to tell entry levelers like myself how things really are, I have to applaud Mr. Pannacker for doing otherwise related to his industry.

Tax refunds aren’t a good thing

Today in the gym locker room, a woman around my age who was changing next to me was having a slightly frustrating conversation with her friend about taxes — to a financial nerd like me , at least. She said that she had started doing them on online but was discouraged after the tax program she used told her she still owes the government money, and not vice versa. This is where I wanted to pipe in and say, this isn’t a bad thing!!

Although psychologically, it is upsetting to have to pay out money, practically, it is better to owe the government money at the end of tax season than to have it owe you. Think about it: if you had that money for the past year, you could have kept it in a mutual fund, an interest-accruing savings account, a CD, etc. So, you might not have made a ton of money in 2009 — certainly you would have made  more during the flusher periods in this nation’s history. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that a tax refund usually is the money that you didn’t owe in the first place.

So, the woman in the locker room concluded from this that she should leave her taxes to a professional, even though she only had to report her work income on her tax return. My question (which I couldn’t bring myself to ask because I still have my tact): WHY would you use an accountant when you only have one source of income?? In her effort to get a refund that she thinks she is owed, she will just end up shelling out money for H&R Block, or whoever and probably lose more money. Contrary to what people think, filing taxes on a single income that derives from a W-2 form isn’t much harder than filling out other forms in life. Filing taxes often get trumped up as rocket science because working on them is an annoying bureaucratic chore as well as a reminder of the money not in our possession. Now, I grant that Donald Trump, or even the average middle-aged professional, has a bit of a headache with taxes, but for young people like myself, there are much harder things to do.

[The hardest thing about a tax return, in my opinion, is keeping straight all of the different form avenues (1099-div, 1099-G, W-2, etc.) you must complete before finishing the 1040, which combines all of your reported income].

My own recommendation is Turbo Tax, which currently allows individuals to file their federal returns for free. Many banks also discount or pay the whole Turbo Tax state filing cost. Or, you could try your hand at the 1040, which, I admit I haven’t ever done, though I have filed state returns by hand.

Tax-saving tip: Lifetime Learning Tax Credit

To everyone I know in grad programs: you are eligible for a tax credit for the year 2009! And not just on your student loan interest. The Lifetime Learning Tax Credit subtracts up to $2,000 in education expenses from your money that can be taxed. Your institution of higher learning should be sending you a form with the information about your qualified education expenses, meaning those you can claim exempt from taxes. I was a little confused at first as to whether the credit only applied to people in undergrad, but apparently it does not. It also applies to those who are part-time students and even people who take just one higher ed class. So, deduct away!