What is considered to be the education expense? Is it tuition only, or tuition minus scholarships and grants?

[udobean]

I received a 1098-T from my university, that lists both qualified tuition and related expenses, as well as scholarships or grants. I am trying to determine if the question I've taken a screen capture of is for only the expense, or what I've actually had to pay- tuition minus scholarships and grants.

[dweelea]

The amount that you can claim for educational credits is the tuition paid, minus the scholarship income.

If the scholarship is non-restricted (meaning that the student can use it for non-tuition expenses like room and board, the student can elect to claim some of the scholarship money as income on their return - potentially increasing the amount available for education credits.  But that can be a complicated equation because other things (like kiddie tax) can come into play.