Paying back a loan is not tuition, any way you look at it. But if it's a qualified student loan you would have received a 1098-E reporting the interest you paid on that loan in the tax year. That interest is deductible on your tax return in the education section, *only* if you do not qualify to be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return.
Weather someone else actually claims you or not doesn't matter. The key word is *qualify*. If you *qualify* to be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return, then you can't even claim the interest.