AOC and 2025 grad

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
February 11, 2026
1 reply
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A "typical" college student graduating in 4 college years, would have education expenses that span 5 tax years (1st tax year claiming education expenses would be fall semester only of freshman year). But AOC is only available for 4 tax years, making AOC unavailable for spring of senior year expense, is this right? How do most people typically handle this situation?

DaveF1006

Level 15

This is correct. Since a typical 4-year degree spans 5 calendar years, one semester usually doesn’t qualify for the AOTC.

If you’ve already used the AOTC four times, TurboTax will guide you to the Lifetime Learning Credit for that last spring semester. This credit covers 20% of expenses up to $10,000 and is non-refundable, but it’s the usual way to get tax savings in your 5th year.

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