Education Assistance - Working Condition Fringe Benefits

I recently started graduate school in the Fall of 2025, and I receive education assistance from my employer to help pay for tuition. The benefit I receive is a Working Condition Fringe Benefit, so none of the reimbursement is taxable income above the limit of $5,250. The issue I'm running into is that I paid for my Fall 2025 semester in 2025, but I wasn't reimbursed for the tuition assistance until January 2026. I know the fringe benefit will be reported in my 2026 W-2 in Box 14 as the Fringe Benefit, but in the meantime for 2025, how should I prepare my taxes if I didn't receive the benefit until the following tax year? Will I technically "qualify" for the education assistance credits (American Opportunity Tax Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit) and receive a sizeable refund, but then deal with the tax consequences later? For further clarity, I'll be in school for quite a few years, so I expect 2026-2028 to "normalize", i.e. pay for two semesters of school and be reimbursed for two semesters of school. The issue will come up when I graduate in Spring of 2029 when I pay for one semester but get reimbursed for two semesters. Will I just have to owe the taxes on the excess tuition reimbursement I receive in 2029? Do I report the tuition assistance in 2025 so I receive a net zero benefit, or is that technically incorrect since it was reimbursed in 2026 and will be reported on my 2026 W-2?