Thanks @Carl for your detailed response. I hope others benefit from it as much as I do. To answer your questions,
+ My son was at Stae University of New York Maritime College. It trains cadets for careers in the merchant marine, not the coast guard or navy. In addition to an undergraduate degree (in Engineering), the cadets have to earn their Third Mates license. Hence the "sea term" in addition to the regular spring and fall terms, and this "maintenance fee" for the training ship.
+ He is our Qualified Child dependent, and meets all the criteria you provided.
+ We are claiming him as a dependent.(And aiming to get the AOTC.)
+ His support was provided by me (via a 529 plan) and a scholarship from the school. He has no income of his own of any sort.
+ Depending on how this "maintenance fee" issue is resolved, he may or may not have to have any taxable earnings from the 529 distribution - I can elaborate more on this later. If he does file taxes for this taxable earnings from the 529 distribution, he will mark it as "I can be claimed as a dependent on another return")
+ I should also mention that I have pored over every word of Pub. 970 and other material and feel that there is some ambiguity in the interpretation of what may be called a QTRE. I can elaborate on this later, if you like.
I hope these address the questions you asked. I look forward to any comments or opinions you might have on the original points I raised.
Much thanks for your thoughtful responses to help me and the entire community.
