Eligible to claim full year's expenses for AOTC if only 1/2 time for one of the semesters?

[businessklj]

For the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC), the IRS states "must be enrolled a minimum of half time for at least one semester."  Does this mean that all tuition costs for the entire tax year are able to be claimed, up to the max limit, as long as part time status was obtained at least one semester that year, even if the other semesters the student is enrolled were only less than half time (3 credits)?  Or, are only the fees from that half-time semester claimable?

EX:  Spring 2018- 1/2 time School #1

        Summer 2018- 1/4 time at both School #1 and School #2

         Fall 2018:    1/4 time at both School #1 and School #2                   

Does going 1/2 time in Spring semester make student eligible to claim AOTC for whole 2018 costs?

Also, if the student takes 3 credits from two different schools each semester (so 6 all together, or 1/2 time), does that count for the AOTC purposes, or does the 1/2 time status have to be from only one school?

[Coleen3 · Accepted solution]

All tuition is potential for the credit as you qualified for "must be enrolled a minimum of half time for at least one semester." 

You must be a half-time student at one school. You must meet the qualifications for that one school. Two part-times do not equal a half-time.

[businessklj]

Coleen,  thank you for your answer.  That does help clarify the question regarding the enrollment.  Is this affirmative that enrollment for that first semester allows the student to claim the full year's fees, including the semesters that were only 1/4 time?  Or is the student only able to claim the costs from that first semester with 1/2 time enrollment?

[Coleen3]

The credit counts for a year, not semesters. As long as you meet the quals for one semester, you have met it for the year.