主题：【求助】美国人究竟把钱花哪去了？ -- 滴滴涕

Parents who sent their kids to private schools can utilize the following tax benefits.

1.tuition and fee deduction--direct deduction against your high bracket income.

2. American opportunity tax credit (expire in 2012)

3. Lifetime learning tax credit

4. Most parents actually shoulder the cost of private education because they can deduct college tuition loan interest expense up to 2,500 every year. And their credit score is higher, allowing them to borrow at a cheaper rate.

It is stupid to let students borrow the college loans UNDER THEIR NAMES because those kids have no income at all to set off against the tuition interest. Even if they have, thus the tax setoff effect is against 15% tax bracket rather than the 38% top bracket.

In sum, if kids are sent to private schools, their parents have already taken the loans and do the tax planning, therefore, the after-tax annual college education expense is NOT 50k, but much lower accordingly.

BTW, lots of parents have 529 plans to save money FREE OF TAXATION for years so that their kids can go to private colleges. Please consult local advisors. 529 plans cover both public and private schools, but coverage vary a lot among states.

In sum, you exxaggerated the tuition problem in States.

Lots of problems happened with for profit schools, those laughing stocks such as U. of Phoenix.

Those schools encourage lots of unqualified African/Latino kids to "realize" their dreams by borrowing heavily from gov. subsizied loan programs. Really sucks now for both those already very poor people as well as the federal gov.