Returning from 1y trip, leaving again for 2

[klad]

I've been overseas for almost a year now for education. I'm planning a trip to return to the US just before I reach the 1 year mark for the purpose of applying for a reentry permit so that I can finish the 2 remaining years of the educational program (3 year total).

I am trying to figure out what to say to the border officers. Is this an acceptable thing for me to do? I'm not returning to the US right now to "live" there, but rather to extend my trip, which in all ways is a temporary absence from the US (but 3 years long). We intend to come back to the US afterwards to live.

There is one alternative. If I fly to the US it would be a return ticket. I think I would have to tell the "whole truth" about my purpose coming back in that case. I could instead fly to Canada and drive a car across the border (on a 1 way rental). Though I would never lie to a border officer, at least this way they would not know about my intention to leave again in a couple of months after I'm done with the I131 biometrics.

It would be better, easier, and cheaper for me to fly into the US. I guess my question is: will saying this cause the officers to deny my entry and take my gc away: "I have been out of the US for just under 1 year. I am returning to apply for a reentry permit so that I can leave again for 2 years and complete my education before returning to the US permanently."

How risky is this?

Thanks so much.

[Jackolantern]

Don't buy a return ticket that ends outside the US. Buy a one-way ticket that takes you from where you are into the US, and then a return ticket that has the return leg going back into the US. If you want to keep your green card under risky circumstances, don't go with what is cheap and easy.