Student loan interest can generally be deducted, although there are income limits on it. And yes, you can take a deduction for interest in the same year you are taking an education credit.

There are basically three different tax breaks for tuition and fees – Hope Credit, Lifetime Learning Credit, and Tuition and Fees Deduction. Each of the three has different rules, and while it’s possible to be eligible for all three, in any given year you can only take one of the three for the same student – you’d choose the one that gave you the most benefit. Hope Credit is only good for your first two years of post-secondary education, but usually (but not always) gives you more of a tax break that the other two. The credits usually, but not always, give you a better tax break than the deduction.

And finally, whoever told you that you could deduct miles for driving to school isn’t correct.