Investing $30 Billion in a College Opportunity Tax Cut. Since 1993 the President has taken numerous steps to make college more affordable and accessible, including direct student loans, Pell Grant increases, and the Hope Scholarship and the Lifetime Learning tax credits, producing the biggest expansion in college opportunity since the GI bill. But tuition costs continue to rise and many students and their families are still struggling to make ends meet. That is why today the President will propose the College Opportunity Tax Cut that will, when fully phased in, provide up to $2,800 in tax relief for students or their families. The President’s proposal would cost $30 billion over 10 years.

How the College Opportunity Tax Cut Works. The President’s proposal would help make college, graduate school, and job training more affordable for millions of families – including expanding the tax cut and making it available to more families. In general, the proposal would provide up to $2,800 annually in tax relief per family.

• Providing a Deduction or 28 Percent Tax Credit for Higher Education. The President’s proposal would give families the option of taking a tax deduction or claiming a 28 percent credit for tuition and fees to pay for college and other higher education. The proposal would cover up to $5,000 of educational expenses in 2001 and 2002 and rise to $10,000 of educational expenses from 2003 forward. When fully phased in, this proposal would provide up to $2,800 in tax relief annually to help American families pay for college.
• The College Opportunity Tax Cut Would Cover College, Graduate Work, or Job Training. Students or families could use the College Opportunity Tax Cut to help pay for college, graduate work, or courses taken to enhance job skills. There is no limit to the number of years that a taxpayer could take this credit, although when fully phased in it is limited to $10,000 in educational expenses per family per year. A family could choose between the Hope Scholarship or the College Opportunity Tax Cut, but could not take both for the same student.
• Expanding the Tax Cut to More Families. The College Opportunity Tax Cut would phase out for individuals with incomes between $50,000 and $60,000 and married filers with incomes between $100,000 and $120,000. This are higher than the income thresholds for any of the education tax cuts currently available.

What the College Opportunity Tax Cut Would Mean for Typical Families

• A Family Sends a Child to College. A family sends a child to a four-year college. The tuition costs the family $11,000 after financial aid. The College Opportunity Tax Cut would generally provide a tax break of $2,800 annually to offset the cost of tuition. (This example is based on the fully phased in proposal.)
• An Automobile Mechanic Takes Night Classes in Computers at a Local Technical College. She will pay tuition of $1,200. The College Opportunity Tax Cut would generally provide a tax break of $336 to offset the cost of tuition.
• A Homemaker Joins a Graduate Teacher Training Program. After being out of college for 20 years, a homemaker enters a graduate teacher training program with tuition of $4,000. The College Opportunity Tax Cut would generally provide a tax break of $1,120 to offset the cost of tuition.
• A Family Plans for Its Education. The combination of the existing Hope Scholarship and the proposed College Opportunity Tax Cut provides a powerful way for a family to plan for its education. Each member of a family of four is pursuing higher education. The father is working on a masters degree part-time; the mother, a computer technician, is attending a two-year program at a local community college; the daughter is a senior in high school who eventually hopes to go on to medical school; and the son is a freshman at a small private college and plans to earn a master’s degree to become a teacher. Based on typical tuition expenses incurred for these programs, a combination of Hope Scholarships and the new College Opportunity Tax Cut would generally reduce this family's Federal income taxes by $28,000 over the nine years its members attend school, or an average of over $3,000 per year.

The President’s New Proposal Builds on His Previous Steps to Make College More Affordable. Since 1993, President Clinton has been dedicated to expanding access to education and training beyond high school. New and expanded programs provide over $50 billion in student aid annually – compared to $22 billion when he took office.

• Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. In 1997, the President signed the Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Tax Credit into law. In 1999, these two measures provided an estimated $3.5 billion in tax relief for 4.8 million families.
• Hope Scholarship. The Hope Scholarship is part of the President’s goal to make the first two years of college as universal as high school. It provides a tax credit worth up to $1,500 per student against educational expenses for the first 2 years of college. (The credit provides a tax break of 100 percent of the first $1,000 of tuition and 50 percent of the next $1,000.) Both the Hope Scholarship and the Lifetime Learning tax credit phase out for individuals with incomes between $40,000 and $50,000 and married filers with incomes between $80,000 and $100,000.
• Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. The President’s proposed College Opportunity Tax Cut builds on the Lifetime Learning tax credit. Under current law, the Lifetime Learning tax credit provides a 20 percent credit on educational expenses for college, graduate study, or job training. The credit covers up to $5,000 of expenses per family through 2002 and then up to $10,000 thereafter.
• More Affordable Student Loans. The President’s Direct Lending Program and improvements to the student loan program have saved students an estimated $8.7 billion on their loans over the last five years while taxpayers have saved over $5 billion through student loan reform.
• $8.7 Billion in Savings for Students. Students who borrowed student loans since 1993 will save $100 annually for each $10,000 in outstanding loans – and a total of $5 billion – due to the lower interest rate formula. Also, in 1993, the Administration reduced loan origination fees, saving students nearly $3.7 billion to date. In 1999, in recognition of widespread discounts available on guaranteed student loans, the Administration reduced direct loan fees even further.
• More Repayment Options. Since 1993, borrowers have more flexibility in managing their student loan debt. The income-contingent repayment plan allows direct loan borrowers to repay their loans based upon their income; after 25 years, any remaining loan balance is discharged.
• Creating the Direct Loan Program. Under the Direct Loan program, students receive loans directly from the Education Department rather than through government-guaranteed lenders. Because the Direct Loan program is substantially less expensive for taxpayers than the guaranteed loan program, taxpayers have saved over $4 billion over the past five years. The program has pioneered the use of new technology, streamlined loan processing and disbursement, and improved customer service in both programs through competition.
• Strengthening the Guaranteed Loan Program. Federal subsidies for banks and guaranty agencies have been pared down, saving taxpayers $1.6 billion over the past five years.
• Reducing Loan Defaults. The national cohort default rate has been reduced from 22.4 percent seven years ago to a record-low 8.8 percent. At the same time, collections on defaulted loans have more than doubled, from $1 billion in FY1993 to $2.2 billion in FY1998.
• Expanded Student Aid Opportunities.
• Larger Pell Grant Awards For Needy Students. When President Clinton took office in 1993, the Pell Grant maximum award was $2,300, the same as it was in 1989. The maximum award has since increased by 43 percent to $3,300 in 2001. The FY 2001 budget proposes increase in the maximum to $3,500, a 52 percent increase over the 1993 level.
• Early Intervention to Help Low-income Students Prepare for College. Based on an Administration proposal, the new GEAR UP program funds partnerships between colleges and high-poverty middle schools. It was funded at $200 million in FY2000. The President’s FY2001 budget proposes to increase GEAR UP funding by 62.5 percent, bringing the total to $325 million to fund mentoring, tutoring, and college scholarships for an estimated 1.4 million low-income students.
• College Outreach and Support for Disadvantaged Students. The Department’s TRIO programs helps low-income, first-generation students succeed in college. Since 1993, funding for the program has increased from $388 million to $645 million; it now serves 730,000 students. The President’s FY2001 budget proposes to expand TRIO by $80 million, to serve an additional 37,000 students.
• More Work-study Opportunities. Spending for Federal Work-Study increased by 41 percent from 1993 to 2000. The President has requested a $77 million increase in FY2001 to continue to allow one million students to work their way through college.
• AmeriCorps education awards. Since 1994, over 150,000 AmeriCorps volunteers have earned up to $4,725 for college while serving local communities.
• Enrollment Rates Have Risen Under President Clinton. The percentage of students who completed high school and went directly to college rose from 61.9 percent in 1992 to 67.0 percent in 1997 – an 8 percent increase in the enrollment rate. Proportionately, enrollment rates increased even more for African Americans and Hispanics over this period. For African Americans, enrollment rates increased from 48.2 percent to 58.5 percent – a 21 percent increase. Over this period Hispanics enrollment rates increased from 55.0 percent to 65.6 percent – a 19 percent increase. [Source: U.S. Department of Education, The Condition of Education 1999]

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