Maybe.
The fact that he must file a return, does not mean he can claim himself. There is a rule that says IF somebody else CAN claim him as a dependent, he is not allowed to claim his own exemption. If he has sufficient income (usually more than $6350), he can & should still file taxes; he just doesn’t get his own $4050 exemption (deduction). In TurboTax, he indicates that somebody else can claim him as a dependent, at the personal information section.
Normally, you would not be able to claim the book expenses, since the excess scholarship would be considered as going towards the cost of the books.
But, there is a tax “loophole” available. The student reports all his scholarship, up to the amount needed to claim the American opportunity credit, as income on his return. That way, the parents (or himself, if he is not a dependent) can claim the tuition credit on their return. They can do this because that much tuition was no longer paid by "tax free" scholarship. You cannot do this if the school’s billing statement specifically shows the scholarships being applied to tuition or if the conditions of the grant are that it be used to pay for qualified expenses.
Using an example: Student has $10,000 in box 5 of the 1098-T and $8000 in box 2 and $200 in book expenses. At first glance he/she has $1800 of taxable income and nobody can claim the American opportunity credit. But if he reports $5800 as income on his return, the parents can claim $4000 of qualified expenses on their return.
