But it doesn’t have hurt all year round. Come tax time, you might be able to get a little bit of that money back if you qualify for certain deductions and tax credits. Granted, you won’t get everything you put into college, but at this point every little bit helps. So if you paid any costs toward college last year or you made payments on a college loan, you’d be smart in checking out these college-related tax tips before you file your income taxes.

1) Work-related Education and Employer-provided Educational Assistance

If you went back to school in order to maintain your status at work, then you may be able to deduct your tuition as a business expense under the Work-related Education tax law. To qualify you have to meet the following criteria:

A) Your education was required by your employer (or by law) in order to keep your current standing, status, salary, or position at work.

B) Your education improves your skill set within your job, or keeps your skill set current with industry standards.

These conditions assume that you already have the minimum degree needed to do your current job. You cannot deduct tuition under this tax law if you go back to school to get a degree for a job that you already have or to get a new degree that allows you to switch careers. So basically, we’re talking about Masters or Doctorate degrees here, however, there are unique circumstances where undergrad degrees apply. Check with your tax professional in all cases.

2) Tuition and Fees Deduction

If you’re paying for college and you do not meet the requirements of the Work-related Education deduction mentioned above, you can still offset some of your fees under the Tuition and Fees Deduction. For example, you can deduct the following amounts of out-of-pocket tuition fees under certain circumstances:

A) $4,000 if your modified adjusted gross income is less than $65,000 ($130,000 if married filing jointly).

B) $2,000 if your modified adjusted gross income is between $65,000 and 80,000 ($130,000 and $160,000 if married filing jointly).

If you make more than $80,000 filing single (or $130,000 filing jointly) you can’t deduct anything. Nor can you take the deduction (no matter how little you make) if you’re listed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return or if you’re married filing separate. Again, consult your tax professional to clarify your personal circumstances.

3) Deducting Student Loan Interest

If you’re making payments on student loans you may be able to deduct up to $2,500 of interest you paid on those loans IF your modified adjusted gross income is less than $70,000 ($140,000 if married filing jointly). To qualifiy your student loan has to meet the following criteria:

A) Your loan was taken out solely for the purpose of paying college tuition expenses, including tuition, fees, books, supplies, special equipment, and under some instances certain room and board.

B) Your loan is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as one that participates in the Student Aid Program.

Basically any loan you get through your school’s Financial Aid Office qualifies, but again always check with a tax professional before you make any assumptions.

With tax time just around the corner it’s best to know the education tax laws. It’s surprising how many students actually leave money on the table when it comes to getting reimbursed for some college expenses. Don’t YOU be one of those people.

One tactic that you can try is by going to the financial aid office and speaking with a counselor about deferment or forbearance. This isn't guaranteed, but it may allow you to postpone your payment if you meet specific circumstances. Even though there might be some consequences, none will be as harmful to you as late payments or defaulting.

A deferment is better because federal loans take into consideration if you're in the military, graduate school, or facing economic difficulty. If you're trying to qualify for a deferment you must earn less than $16,245 a year in the continental U.S. Plus you are eligible for public assistance like food stamps. Depending on if your deferment is based on economic hardship it's granted one year at a time but unemployment deferments are granted in six-month increments. But students can reapply for these for a total of three years each.

Deferment is a great option if you can't afford the payments. But in case you don't qualify you might be able to postpone payments if you're having health problems. This type of postponement is called a forbearance. Although in order to qualify you most likely will need to be interviewed in order to determine if forbearance is the best solution.

Even though there are these options out there if you're struggling and worried about how you're going to make your student payments remember that delaying it isn't necessarily the best thing. It's important to realize that even though you defer these payments the interest is still accruing on the loan whether you're making payments or not. So the amount will be larger when you finally start making payments. But if you do get a deferment or forbearance it's a good idea to pay the interest costs in order to minimize the financial impact later on.

If you don't qualify or choose not to get a deferment or forbearance then try picking a payment plan that reduces your monthly payment. By reducing the payments it will take longer to pay off the loan but  it may be worth it. Another option is the Income-Based Repayment Program for federal loans. The program caps monthly payments at 15 percent of your earnings. Then if the debt isn't paid off in 25 years it is forgiven. To be eligible for this program officials weigh your debt level against your income.

Even though it's a difficult time and many grads are facing student loan payments with no job, there is hope. Just remember that you want to keep your credit report as squeaky clean as possible. If that means you need a deferment or forbearance then get it but don't ignore the payments. Defaulting on your loan will cause serious problems today and throughout your life.