Hi everyone, I am enrolled in two schools seeking a degree in each. I know I can only receive aid in one school so I have chosen the more expensive school (school A) and I receive aid there enough to cover all tuition costs. In school #2 (school B) where I am also seeking a degree, I am paying out of pocket.
From what I understand, if I were only going to school A, I wouldn’t be paying anything so I wouldn’t get any AOTC.
But since I am paying out of pocket for school B and seeking a degree, I should be able to receive the tax credit for those costs, right? Correct me if I am wrong on this…
In school A, I am pursuing a BS full time and in school B I am pursuing an AAS part time. Based on my projected timeline, I should receive both degrees around the same time.
In case you are wondering why I would be doing this… I am getting the BS in business admin and the AAS in accounting to fulfill course requirements in the event that I would want to be a CPA. My state allows the accounting credits to be from a 2 year school and I figure that is way cheaper than a masters all said and done. In the event that I do not want to be a CPA, I may want to start a book-keeping business in which both of these degrees would be of great help.
Even if both degrees are useful, that is not necessarily a reason to pursue them simultaneously.
Juggling two different class schedules, different breaks and finals weeks, different class locations, trying to have a life such as clubs, internships, and strong friend groups at two different schools is harder than you might think.
Tax breaks are explained in IRS publication 970. The AOTC is scheduled to disappear and tax reform is supposedly on the todo list in congress so don’t count on things to stay as they are.
I am asking based on how things are now. I understand things can change and I see that it is extended through 2018… I have dependent children and I am an adult student so I am not interested in clubs, internships and friends. I cannot take accounting for Bachelors because the commute is 50 minutes and I am able to do Business admin online. The school that offers accounting is much closer so my circumstances are such that this is the best way for me to get the credits and degrees to put me into the field I want to be in. To be a CPA, I need 150 credits instead of the 120 and the AAS fulfills this requirement. I am a 4.0 student and am not having any problems with my course work but thanks for your concern.
You need to read IRS pub 970, what items you can claim toward it, what income you need to qualify and claim the credit.
Ok thanks, I did read it. I just didn’t see anything on there about 2 schools. I know you can’t receive aid for 2 schools so I wanted to make sure the credits weren’t like that. I thought maybe someone else who has done this would be able to chime in. I think I am understanding that there is no problem with being in 2 schools for the credit.