You should also check with your tax professional or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). IRS Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Higher Education, explains these credits and other tax benefits. You can order the publication free from the IRS at 1-800-tax-form (1-800-829-3676). Or you can download the publication from the website www.irs.ustreas.gov.
What about lower-cost schools?
If you plan on working toward a bachelor's degree, you might want to consider starting out at a two-year community college and then transferring to a four-year school. Community colleges are partially funded by local and state taxes and are therefore usually less expensive than four-year schools. Some four-year schools are also partially funded by local and state taxes and can be less expensive than those that are not funded by taxes.
You can also save money by living at home and commuting to your local community college. You'll want to make sure that the courses you take during your first two years will transfer to the four-year school you want to attend and that they will count toward your bachelor's degree.
What about working or volunteering?
Whether you choose a college or a career school, you can work part time to pay for some of your costs. If you do this, you should make sure that you save enough time for studying and that your work and school schedules do not conflict.
AmeriCorps is a program that allows participants to earn education awards in return for national service. For more information, contact the Corporation for National Service:
Corporation for National Service 1201 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20525 1-800-94-ACORPS (1-800-942-2677) www.cns.gov
The U.S. Armed Forces also offer the following educational programs and ways to pay for school or to reduce your school costs:
You can attend one of the military academies. These are four-year colleges that are tuition free and offer bachelor's degrees and a commission in the military after graduation.
You can attend a college or career school and enroll in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Program, which will pay your tuition, fees, and books and provide you with a monthly allowance.
You can join the Armed Forces before you go to a college or career school and take advantage of the Montgomery GI Bill, which provides financial support to those who attend school after serving in the military.
If you enlist in the US Army, you may be eligible to receive repayment assistance from its Loan Repayment Program. For a four-year enlistment in a selected skill in the active Army, up to $65,000 in repayment assistance may be available. For an enlistment in the Army Reserve, up to $20,000 may be available.
You can also earn college credit for some military training, possibly reducing the number of classes you'll have to take.
As an active member of the military, you can take courses at a college or career school during your off-duty hours.
Contact your local military recruiter for more information on these programs.
Harvard students and alumni will testify in support of Harvard during the admissions trial this week, defending its "race-conscious admissions policy" against claims that it discriminates against Asian-American applicants. The trial is the latest chapter in a lawsuit filed in 2014 by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA).
Harvard University has been accused of "balancing its undergraduate classes to ensure that it had admitted its desired share of students of each race and ethnicity" and also for penalizing Asian-American applicants by "systematically giving them lower scores on a metric admissions officers use to measure personality." Adam Mortara, a lawyer representing SFFA, stated that the university scores applicants in four categories: academic achievement, athletic ability, extracurriculars, and personality. While referencing admissions data, he concluded that, despite their higher academic performance, Asian-Americans are admitted at lower rates. [...]
An associate professor in security studies at Georgetown University who, last week, wished "death and castration" to GOP senators supporting confirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is no longer teaching but will be "traveling internationally for university research." [...]
The official 2019-2020 college financial aid season began yesterday, October 1st, so it is critical that you file your Free Application for Federal Financial Aid (FAFSA) ASAP! Whether you are headed to college for the first time next fall, or you plan on attending college next year, you will want to complete your FAFSA as soon as possible, as many states and colleges award financial aid on a first come, first served basis. [...]
