Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Would any of you support a tax credit or tax deduction for college students whenever they buy their own textbooks?
Textbook prices seem to be pretty outrageous.
It would be nice to deduct that from your taxes every year while you're enrolled in school.
I seem to remember getting a few thousand dollars in tax credits every year while in college. I definitely remember not paying taxes, even with a small income. Plus student loans are tax-subsidized. There's plenty of "money in the system." It just gets spent wastefully. There's so little incentive for many schools to cut costs, plus so many students waste money having fun.
As far as textbook tax breaks, I disagree. You'd basically be subsidizing those professors and textbook manufacturers who keep that racket going.
These textbook scams seem to be the responsibility of state legislatures, university BOTs, and university presidents to keep an eye on. I believe I saw some severely unethical things go on at my school, at least.
isn't that something the Hope credit thing (blah, can't remember the exact name!) already does? I know I got a hefty tax return b/c of it (though it apparently only applies to your first 2 years of college)
I don't see a credit for books in the future.
I guess they might consider the Hope credit to be for any college expenses, including books.
Does the Lifetime Learning Credit still exist? I think my DH used that for two years of schooling.
I seem to remember getting a few thousand dollars in tax credits every year while in college. I definitely remember not paying taxes, even with a small income. Plus student loans are tax-subsidized. There's plenty of "money in the system." It just gets spent wastefully. There's so little incentive for many schools to cut costs, plus so many students waste money having fun.
As far as textbook tax breaks, I disagree. You'd basically be subsidizing those professors and textbook manufacturers who keep that racket going.
These textbook scams seem to be the responsibility of state legislatures, university BOTs, and university presidents to keep an eye on. I believe I saw some severely unethical things go on at my school, at least.
The textbooks are a total ripoff IMO. My books this term at CC cost $600, and my tuition was $240. Something is wrong with that picture.
The textbooks are a total ripoff IMO. My books this term at CC cost $600, and my tuition was $240. Something is wrong with that picture.
do you happen to live in California? I've heard that this was a major issue w/ California's state school (ie, people being able to afford the cheap tuition, but not being able to afford the expensive books)
100 hours of community service to be eligible? Hmmm....this assumes that the student has the time and once again will only serve the middle class to rich students. Poorer students that have to work and adult students (who could probably use the tax break more than anyone) who have no choice but to work themselves through college may not have the time for community service.
Students that come from poor families get a full ride to go to college. If not they get a very small amount of government loans. I know a few kids that get excess aid and use the extra cash to buy their books.
I seem to remember getting a few thousand dollars in tax credits every year while in college. I definitely remember not paying taxes, even with a small income. Plus student loans are tax-subsidized. There's plenty of "money in the system." It just gets spent wastefully. There's so little incentive for many schools to cut costs, plus so many students waste money having fun.
As far as textbook tax breaks, I disagree. You'd basically be subsidizing those professors and textbook manufacturers who keep that racket going.
These textbook scams seem to be the responsibility of state legislatures, university BOTs, and university presidents to keep an eye on. I believe I saw some severely unethical things go on at my school, at least.
I didn't think of it that way.
It would be nice if my state made it where sales tax wasn't applied to textbook purchases. Even though I was using loan money ($500 per semester to cover books), my math book costs me $180, $14 of which was taxes.
My state keeps telling so many students they need to go to college so they can get a good paying job but if the majority of your citizens are in low-paying jobs, it's hard to get student loans (private ones), some citizens make too much money to qualify for federal loans but didn't save quite enough to pay the whole expense of sending their kids to college (because college costs seem to go up every year....), AND there are so few scholarships...how do you expect people to pay for it?
I consider myself lucky to have my tuition and fees paid for but I know others are not so lucky.
I once joked that I should get knocked up so I can get school paid for considering there are so many scholarships for single parents. I knew a girl who got all her tuition, fees, and books paid for because she is a single parent. I think the cost of her gas to get to and from school was paid for.
Students that come from poor families get a full ride to go to college. If not they get a very small amount of government loans. I know a few kids that get excess aid and use the extra cash to buy their books.
However, its not really fair for adult students.
yeah sure, and they get driven to school in chauffeured Lincoln town cars and limos too jk. it just sounded like from you're post you're stating that most/all poor students get a free ride and don't have to work, which isn't true
yes, a few schools do give a small number of students enough financial aid to give them a free ride to college, but trust me, these students are in the minority. a few lucky brilliant low income students may get a full ride at the more prestigious colleges, especially at the Ivies, but that is more or less merit based. some states offer full scholarships to students w/ high tests scores, but these are also merit based. low income students are eligible for certain grants and income based scholarships, but in many cases, this won't cover the full tuition so many of these students (again, unless they have additional, merit based aid) end up needing to work.
if you're low income, you had better be an excellent, A student (or study really hard for any state tests) if you really want a free ride. or, as LiveToday mentioned, if you're female (and preferably, a minority) and have a kid OOW, then you're almost guaranteed to get a ton of fin aid (along w/ other gov't "goodies")
yeah sure, and they get driven to school in chauffeured Lincoln town cars and limos too jk. it just sounded like from you're post you're stating that most/all poor students get a free ride and don't have to work, which isn't true
yes, a few schools do give a small number of students enough financial aid to give them a free ride to college, but trust me, these students are in the minority. a few lucky brilliant low income students may get a full ride at the more prestigious colleges, especially at the Ivies, but that is more or less merit based. some states offer full scholarships to students w/ high tests scores, but these are also merit based. low income students are eligible for certain grants and income based scholarships, but in many cases, this won't cover the full tuition so many of these students (again, unless they have additional, merit based aid) end up needing to work.
if you're low income, you had better be an excellent, A student (or study really hard for any state tests) if you really want a free ride. or, as LiveToday mentioned, if you're female (and preferably, a minority) and have a kid OOW, then you're almost guaranteed to get a ton of fin aid (along w/ other gov't "goodies")
Which doesn't seem fair to hard-working females like me who did the right thing and didn't get pregnant at a young age.
I know it will probably save the state money in the long-haul by not having two people on welfare but...eh...
Which doesn't seem fair to hard-working females like me who did the right thing and didn't get pregnant at a young age.
I know it will probably save the state money in the long-haul by not having two people on welfare but...eh...
t6rust me, there have been some VERY tough times in my life where I did seriously contemplate whether getting knocked up would make my life easier than it was (yup, life has to get pretty bad to think that having a kid would make your life easier!). thankfully, common sense and a sense of pride that wouldn't let me rely on the gov't tit forever intervened
yeah sure, and they get driven to school in chauffeured Lincoln town cars and limos too jk. it just sounded like from you're post you're stating that most/all poor students get a free ride and don't have to work, which isn't true
yes, a few schools do give a small number of students enough financial aid to give them a free ride to college, but trust me, these students are in the minority. a few lucky brilliant low income students may get a full ride at the more prestigious colleges, especially at the Ivies, but that is more or less merit based. some states offer full scholarships to students w/ high tests scores, but these are also merit based. low income students are eligible for certain grants and income based scholarships, but in many cases, this won't cover the full tuition so many of these students (again, unless they have additional, merit based aid) end up needing to work.
if you're low income, you had better be an excellent, A student (or study really hard for any state tests) if you really want a free ride. or, as LiveToday mentioned, if you're female (and preferably, a minority) and have a kid OOW, then you're almost guaranteed to get a ton of fin aid (along w/ other gov't "goodies")
I didn't mean it like that. The only reason why I say it is because I know alot of people who get everything or almost evrything paid for. I live in NJ and here they have the EOF (educational opportunity fund). If the family income is below a certain amount (for the year 2009, its $48,260 for a family of 5), they get a full ride.
IMO, this is an excellent program. These students are smart and without it, they wouldn't be able to go to college.
And you mentioned that in order to be a poor student and get financial aid, you have to be a straight A student. Usually the top percent of a graduating class from an inner-city school are the only ones interested in going to college anyway.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
jk. it just sounded like from you're post you're stating that most/all poor students get a free ride and don't have to work, which isn't true
