In general the education tax benefits will either reduce your taxable income (tuition and fees deduction) or offset your tax liability (lifetime learning credit and american opportunity credit). The amount of benefit that you can get, cant exceed the amount of your tax liability. Additionally, the calculation of these benefits is based on the amount of your qualified education expenses and these expenses are reduced by any tax free educational assistance, such as scholarships.
The one exception is the American Opportunity credit because it is a partially refundable credit. Please refer to the following Turbo Tax article for additional information.
To be eligible for the American Opportunity credit, you would need to be pursuing your first bachelor's degree and meet all the requirements to claim the credit. https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/5358150 https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/5358152