Sep 20, 2007

Thursday, September 20 , 2007 IRS Reminds Students of "Tax-Advantaged Education Expenses" By Surajit Sen Sharma On September 11th, the IRS news release "Back-to-School Tax Breaks Help Teachers Pay Classroom Costs; Aid Parents, Students With College Tuition" stressed the importance of saving receipts and maintaining expense records to take full advantage of deductions on educational expenses and credits available on federal income tax returns for 2007. IRS Acting Commissioner Linda Stiff stated, "The start of the school year is a good time to remind parents, students, and teachers to save all receipts related to tax-advantaged education expenses." She further added that good recordkeeping makes sense because it can help avoid missing a deduction or credit come tax time.  read more U.S. Secretary of Education Visits Alaska for Updates on NCLB By Nihit Aurora U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings visited Nome and Anchorage as part of her continuing tour of Alaska schools to meet with students and discuss their achievements under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Additionally, she observed classrooms and met with education administrators statewide. Senators Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski accompanied Secretary Margaret Spellings on the Alaska tour. Spellings said that she saw some of the challenges that educators face in Alaska but also observed that Alaska's students and schools have made considerable progress. She reiterated that her department is committed to helping the students of Alaska improve and making NCLB more flexible and practicable.  read more New Hampshire congressman opposes financial aid bill Former Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg was the only New Hampshire congressman to vote against a plan to bolster financial aid to students by slashing about $20 billion in government subsidies to lenders. According to Gregg, the bill will actually cost 2,900 times as much as its supporters say it will save. Criticizing the bill, Gregg said, "The problem with this is that this bill, and the manner in which it's brought to the floor, basically puts a stake through the heart of the budget process." The bill will increase the maximum Pell Grant from a little over $4,300 to $5,400 by 2012. SDSU has new endowed scholarship San Diego State University has created a $100,000 endowed scholarship in memory of Carol Forrest, a former member of the SDSU Alumni Association's board of directors. The Carol Forrest, P.E., Memorial Watershed Management Scholarship Endowment will help College of Engineering graduate students interested in studying water resources affected by storm water and urban runoff. Forrest, who passed away a year ago, was a well-known San Diego-based civil engineer and specialist in erosion and sediment control. Her former employer, Geosyntec Consultants, and widower, Michael Harding, are funding the scholarship.  read more To ensure that the Medical School Loans Newswire is delivered to your Inbox, please add registration@medicalschoolloans.com to your address book. © 2007 Medical School Loans. All rights reserved. Office: 175 South Lake Avenue, Suite 200, Pasadena, CA 91101