I obtained a Bachelors in Engineering after which I decided to become a Pilot, I got a Fannie Mae student loan in order to pay for the tuition of over $100K, now I'm a certified pilot working for a regional airline. I have started paying my Fannie Mae student loan and have quite a bit of interest charges since it's a variable interest rate loan and the interest is now 9%. Can I deduct these interest payments on my taxes?
Possibly. Student loan interest is deductible up to $2,500 and your Modified Adjust Gross Income is less than $85,000. If your income is greater than $85,000, you would not be able to take the student loan interest deduction.
For purposes of the student loan interest deduction, Qualified Education Expenses are the total costs of attending an eligible educational institution.
The school should be able to tell you if it is an eligible educational institution. In general, an eligible educational institution is an accredited college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary educational institution, including accredited, public, nonprofit, and proprietary (privately-owned, profit-making) postsecondary institutions. Additionally, in order to be an eligible educational institution, the school must be eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the Department of Education. If they issue a 1098-T they are probably an eligible institution.
Enter your school at the link below, to see if it's on the dept. of education list.