Obama to highlight benefits of college tax credit

[October 13, 2010]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama wants Congress to make permanent a $2,500 college tuition tax credit that's set to expire at the end of the year.

The American Opportunity Tax Credit was part of the $814 billion economic stimulus bill Obama signed early in 2009. He had proposed making the tax credit permanent in his 2011 budget proposal, but Congress has not acted on his request.

Obama planned an event Wednesday at the White House with area college students to discuss how they benefited from the tax credit, and why it should be made permanent.

A Treasury Department analysis says 12.5 million people used the credit to help pay for college last year. The average credit was $1,700, about 75 percent more than under other existing college tax credits.

[Associated Press]

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