Who claims college scholarships

[MrSintax]

We are claiming our 21yo FT college student as a dependent.  She worked PT last year and made a little over $9,000.  I read another response that said if we do so, then the parent must claim all scholarships, grants, tuition payments and the student's 1098-T on our return, but not her wages as she will be filing her own return.  Our student rec'd two $500 scholarships from outside the school:  for one, the check was made out directly to our student, which she cashed and gave the money to us to give to her school.  For the other $500 scholarship, the check was made out directly to the school. It literally never touched our hands.  Our question is twofold: (1) do we (the parents) claim the $500 scholarship check that was made out to our daughter or does she claim it; and (2) do we still claim the $500 scholarship that was sent directly to the school?

[macuser_22]

Scholarships are claimed on the child's own tax return, not the parents.  A scholarship would only be taxable if it exceeded the amount of tuition reported on the 1098-T box 1, then is is treated as wages on line 1 of the child's 1040 form.

A child that is a dependent, cannot claim the educational credits - those are claimed on the parents tax return.

[michaelmaloney]

What macuser said makes a lot of sense. The educational credits should be claimed by the parents since the child is to be considered as a dependent in this context. As for the scholarships, whether or not they touched your hands, should be deemed as claimable since every funding is documented.