It was fun to see the New Year’s Day Rose Parade led by U.S. Airway Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III who saved 150 passengers plus a crew of 5 by performing his job excellently.

I would give another person, RN Lori Singleton-Clarke of Bryantown, MD, an award for Outstanding Woman in Her Field because she took on the IRS, single-handedly (pro se, meaning for herself and without a lawyer or an accountant) and won the right to deduct her educational expenses for an M.B.A. By performing that job excellently, she thereby made it possible for thousands of women to understand how they might also recover at least part of the costs required to advance themselves in a business career by getting an MBA degree in their field of specialization.

Ms. Singleton-Clarke's inspirational story of preparation and persistence is told by WSJ tax reporter Laura Saunders in the January 9, 2010 WSJ articles entitled: "Nurse Outduels IRS Over M.B.A. Tuition: How One Woman Went to Tax Court and Won Deducation" by Laura Saunders in WSJ: Education, January 9, 2010, p. B1 and also "Win Raises Hopes for Other Students" WSJ: Education, January 9, 2010, p. B2.

Ms. Singleton-Clarke is a registered nurse and quality improvement coordinator at St. Mary's Hospital (Leonardtown, Maryland) who sought to deduct her education expenses related to her getting an MBA from University of Phoenix. She brought the same gutsiness to the Tax Court that she had exhibited at hospitals where she faced off against doctors.

"As Ms. Singleton-Clarke held fast to her conviction that she deserved the deduction, she drew on skills she developed as a nurse responsible for dealing with doctors who may have infringed hospital rules. That was why she studied for her M.B.A., she says: 'I didn't want to feel outmatched by surgeons who didn't want to talk to me.'"

Read the original decision summarized at: "Lori A. Singleton-Clarke v. Commissioner., U.S. Tax Court, T.C. Summary Opinion 2009-182, (Dec. 2, 2009)" .

The decision by women to pursue an MBA degree represents one of the most crucial choices in their advancement toward a financially-satisfying career. The choice may determine whether or not they are prepared for top level leadership roles and responsibilities. When women opt out of a job and "change course," that decision might have a serious impact on whether they can recoup some or all of their outlay for an MBA degree.

UCLA Anderson School of Business costs about $43,000 for in-state residents and about $48,000 for out-of-state residents. Do our university business degree programs help women candidates understand the tax-deductibility of those expenditures? Not simply advise the women once they have already entered the program and made the crucial decision to change work or to stop work, but do we advise the candidates who are trying to determine IF and HOW they will be able to afford these fees?

IRS regulations provide that a taxpayer may deduct education expenses as ordinary and necessary business expenses if the education -—

(1) Maintains or improves skills required by the individual in his employment or other trade or business, or

(2) Meets the express requirements of the individual's employer, or the requirements of applicable law or regulations, imposed as a condition to the retention by the individual of an established employment relationship, status, or rate of compensation.

Taxpayer may NOT deduct the expenses if the education

- qualifies the individual for a new trade or business, because at that time the education is a personal expense or constitutes an accumulation of personal capital.

An essential consideration for deductibility is the continuity of employment before and after the MBA degree:

"The decisive factor generally is whether the taxpayer was already established in their trade or business."

If women decide to quit their existing job and then pursue an MBA degree, it will become much more difficult to argue the tax deductibility of the very high expenses required to obtain an MBA degree. These and a host of other accounting details require guidance by tax professionals. There certainly are enough women in accounting who could be providing this quality of advice/mentorship to the next generation of young women rising in their corporate ranks.

We should also recognize the outstanding journalist talents of Laura Saunders who is now a tax reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Since the mid-1980s, Ms. Saunders was a Senior Editor at Forbes Magazine, writing about tax and investments. Noteworthy were her July 1 and 2, 2009 Forbes.com "Net Worth" column articles about the lessons she learned as a part-time investor:

"Can A Part-Time Investor And Mother Of Two Find Investment Winners?" Part One - July 1, 2009 and Part Two - July 2, 2009.

Ms. Saunders holds a B.A. from Sewanee: the University of the South, and an M.A. from Columbia University. She also was a Chancellor's Fellow at CUNY's Graduate Center, studying literature and business in a Ph.D. program.

Compare the impact of the Singleton-Clarke tax court decision with Dukes v. Wal-Mart: it has now been more than 10 months (March 2009) since the class action status of that case was reviewed (en banc or before all members of the Ninth Circuit Court), 4 years (February 2007) since the district court entered its class certification order, 9 years since the underlying litigation was first filed (June 2001), and 10 years (2000) since Betty Dukes filed her first claim.

Perhaps that is the difference between what one can accomplish with a business degree compared to a law degree.