The 1098-T reports education costs you paid in a tax year so you can claim a credit on your return

The 1098-T is a form your school sends you when you have paid may have access to education expenses — tuition, required fees, course materials. It does not mean you automatically get money back. It means the school has documented what you paid, and you use that information to decide whether you can claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit or the Lifetime Learning Credit on your tax return.

You receive a 1098-T only if your school participates in the federal student aid programs. Not all schools do. If your school does not participate, you can still claim education credits, but you will need to gather receipts and invoices yourself instead of relying on the form.

The form arrives by January 31 of the year after you paid the expenses. If you paid tuition in December 2024, you will receive the 1098-T in January 2025, and you will use it when you file your 2024 tax return in early 2025.

Key Takeaways

  • A 1098-T shows may have access to education expenses your school charged you, not necessarily what you actually paid out of pocket.
  • You use the amounts on the form to determine whether you can claim the American Opportunity Credit (up to $2,500 per student per year) or the Lifetime Learning Credit (up to $2,000 per return per year).
  • The form lists scholarships and grants separately because those reduce the expenses you can use to calculate your credit.
  • If you paid expenses but your school did not send you a 1098-T, you can still claim a credit using your own records of what you paid.

Box 1: may have access to tuition and related education expenses

Box 1 shows the total amount your school charged you for tuition and required fees during the tax year. This is what the school billed you, not what you paid. If you owe the school money, the amount in Box 1 may be higher than what you actually sent them.

Required fees are charges the school forces all students to pay — lab fees, technology fees, student activity fees that are mandatory. Optional fees do not go in this box. If you paid for a parking permit or a meal plan you chose to buy, those do not count.

Course materials — textbooks, supplies, equipment — go in Box 1 only if your school included them in the charges it reported to you. Some schools bundle these costs; others do not. The form will show what your school counted.

Box 2: Scholarships and grants

Box 2 lists scholarships, grants, and other money the school applied to your account that you did not have to repay. This includes federal Pell Grants, state grants, institutional scholarships, and employer-paid tuition information.

This box matters because scholarships and grants reduce the may have access to expenses you can use to claim a tax credit. If your school charged you $10,000 in tuition and you received a $6,000 scholarship, your may have access to expenses for credit purposes drop to $4,000. The IRS does not let you claim a credit on money someone else paid.

Student loans do not go in this box. Loans are money you borrowed and must repay, so they do not reduce your may have access to expenses.

Box 5: Adjustments made by the school

Box 5 shows changes the school made to the amounts in Boxes 1 and 2 after the original bill. This might include refunds you received, corrections to scholarship amounts, or adjustments for expenses that did not actually may have access to.

If you paid tuition in January but withdrew from school in February and received a refund, the school will adjust the numbers to reflect what you actually kept. The adjusted amounts are what you use when you calculate your credit.

Box 6: Scholarships applied to room and board

Box 6 lists scholarships the school applied to room and board — housing and meal costs. These scholarships do not reduce your may have access to education expenses because room and board are not may have access to expenses for tax credit purposes. You can claim a credit only on tuition, fees, and course materials.

If you received a scholarship that the school split between tuition and housing, only the tuition portion goes in Box 2. The housing portion goes in Box 6 and does not affect your credit calculation.

How to use the 1098-T when you file your return

Start by subtracting Box 2 from Box 1, then add Box 5. That gives you your may have access to education expenses for the year. If Box 6 has an amount, it does not change this calculation — it is informational only.

Next, determine which credit you can claim. The American Opportunity Credit is worth up to $2,500 per student per tax year and requires the student to be in their first four years of college. The Lifetime Learning Credit is worth up to $2,000 per return per tax year and has no year-in-school limit. You cannot claim both credits for the same student in the same year.

If your income is above a certain threshold, you may not be able to claim either credit. The income limits change each year and depend on your filing status. Check the IRS website or your tax software for the current year's limits.

You will report the credit on your tax return using Form 8863 (Education Credits). Your tax software will walk you through the questions and calculate the credit for you. You do not send the 1098-T with your return — you keep it for your records.

What to do if you do not receive a 1098-T

If you paid may have access to education expenses but your school did not send you a 1098-T, contact the school's financial aid or bursar office and ask for one. Schools are required to send them by January 31, so if it is early February and you have not received it, follow up.

If your school genuinely did not send one — because it does not participate in federal aid programs or because of an error — you can still claim a credit. Gather your own records: tuition bills, receipts for fees, proof of what you paid for course materials. Keep invoices and cancelled checks or credit card statements showing the payment. You will enter the amounts manually on Form 8863 instead of pulling them from a 1098-T.

If you paid expenses but received a scholarship that covered them, you will need documentation of both the expenses and the scholarship amount so you can calculate your net may have access to expenses correctly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the 1098-T mean I will get a tax credit?

No. The form reports what you paid, but you may not be able to claim a credit if your income is too high, if you are not a may have access to student, or if someone else claims you as a dependent. You use the information on the form to determine whether you may have access to, but the form itself does not grant you anything.

My parents paid my tuition. Whose name should the 1098-T be under?

The 1098-T goes to whoever the school has on file as the student. If your parents paid the bill but you are enrolled as the student, the form comes to you. Your parents can claim the credit only if you are their dependent and they have the right to claim education credits for you. Check with a tax professional about your specific situation.

I received a refund after the school sent the 1098-T. Do I need a corrected form?

If the refund was issued in the same tax year you paid the tuition, the school should have included it in Box 5 (adjustments). If you received the refund in a later year, contact the school and ask whether they will send a corrected 1098-T. A refund in a different year may affect your credit calculation for that year instead.

Can I claim a credit if I paid tuition with a student loan?

Yes. A student loan is a way you paid the expenses, but the expenses themselves are still may have access to. The loan does not reduce the amount you can claim a credit on — only scholarships and grants do that.

What if the 1098-T shows expenses I did not actually pay?

Contact your school when ready. The form should show only charges that were actually billed to you. If the school made an error, ask for a corrected 1098-T. Do not file your return using incorrect numbers — correct the form first.