For Receive Scholarship in '16 question, should I include scholarship $ used to pay Spring 2017 tuition that was rec'd & posted to the student's college a/c in Jan. 2017?

[ourtaxuserid]

Our child was a freshman in college during the 2016-2017 school year.  The 2016 1098-T shows scholarship amount of $1,700 in box 5 which was paid in 2016 for the Fall 2016 semester.  The Spring 2017 semester bill includes credits for $1,700 in scholarships for that semester.  The Spring 2017 semester started in January 2017.  If the $1,700 in scholarships were paid and posted to the student's college account in January 2017, is this considered a scholarship received in 2016 and used for 2016 tuition?  Should that amount be included on the screen that asks "Did (name) receive a scholarship or grant in 2016?" in the "other scholarship/fellowship/grants" box OR should the $1,700 in scholarships used for the Spring 2017 go on our 2017 tax return?

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

The $1,700 in scholarships used for the Spring 2017 should NOT be reported  on your 2016 tax return. That is, it should be accounted for next year.