I paid student fees in 2021. Can those be deducted?

[bchurwitz]

That's it. I paid student fees out of my pocket. Can I claim those as deductions?

[JillS56]

The education credit is for post-secondary schooling.   In order to claim the education credit, you need to have a 1098-T from the college or university the student is attending.

[Hal_Al]

Probably not.  Any fees that are eligible for the education credit are (almost) always included in box 1 of the 1098-T.