Yes, you can kind of choose if you claim your son as a dependent or not by putting him on your return or not. But your son will have to select "can be claimed by someone" on his return if he meets all the requirements to be your dependent, no matter if you choose to claim him or not.
Please use Worksheet for Determining Support to ensure that he actually paid more than half of his own support. If he did than just delete your son from your return and your son can select "no" to "can be claimed as a dependent".
Please be aware that if your son chooses "yes" to "can be claimed as a dependent" and then chooses "No" for "Will they claim you?" it will still put a checkmark on Form 1040 next to "Someone can claim you as a dependent". Since for the IRS it is important if someone can be claimed according to the rules and not if someone actually is.
Your son will only be able to qualify for the education credits if he cannot be claimed by someone as a dependent. Please use Worksheet for Determining Support to ensure that he actually paid more than half of his own support to decide if he is your dependent or not.
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