As part of Obama’s negotiations about tax policy for this year he’s trying to extend some of the Bush tax cuts: those that allow tax credits for college expenses. According to an article by Jennifer Waters in the Wall Street Journal:
The president, who says he wants the U.S. to lead the world with the highest proportion of college graduates by 2020, is including a provision in his 2011 budget to keep the American Opportunity Tax Credit in play past this year and expand it to also cover a student’s junior and senior years.
The American Opportunity Tax Credit… replaced the Hope Scholarship credit as a bigger version that provided a maximum benefit of $2,500 per student—$700 more than the Hope credit….The credit is available on a phase-out level to those making up to $90,000 in modified adjusted incomes, or $180,000 for joint filers.
In 2009 some 12.5 million American students received the tax credit, at a total cost of $8.7 billion. This is according to a Treasury Department report about the tax credit released on Tuesday.
