Reporting income tax with study abroad program scholarships

[Candice A McDougall]

Hello SEELANGers,

Could anyone kindly direct me to information regarding reporting 
scholarships for study abroad programs on income tax returns?  Searches 
of archives, Google, the IRS website have all been fruitless, and the 
office of my program has not returned my email for several days (I 
understand they must be extremely busy, as new groups of students have 
just arrived in Russia, but I really need this information ASAP!). The 
problem is that generally education expenses have to be itemized in 
order to be reported and only expenses for tuition and certain other 
fees, books, and equipment are deductions only if the educational 
institution deems them mandatory, but room and board, etc. are not 
deemed education expenses. What happens when a sizeable Title VIII 
scholarship is sent as a check directly to the student along with a bill 
for the all-inclusive program, which costs the entirety of the 
scholarship and then some? The award letter states that the scholarship 
is "provided by the US Dept. of State specifically for your 
participation in [this] program." I would think it would be classified 
as a non-taxable grant, however the program cost includes travel, room 
and board, visa fees, etc. Surely someone else in the SEELANGS community 
has been through this themselves?

Thank you,
Candice McDougall

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------