Let's dissect this, because your question is not clear.
There are two ways of getting tax benefits for education, either as an education benefit or as a work-related expense. If both methods are available to you, you can only use one of them.
Work related expense.
Work-related expenses for W-2 workers are never tax deductible. Work-related expenses for self-employed/independent contracts are deductible against self-employment income but only for education needed to maintain or improve your skills in your current job or field of work. Expenses needed to meet minimum training requirements are not deductible. So if this certification is a minimum requirement, it is not allowable as a work-related expense even if you are self-employed, but if this enhances or improves your qualifications for a job you are already performing, it is deductible. As a work-related expense, you can deduct tuition you actually pay for training in the year you pay it, as an expense on schedule C.
Personal tuition expense.
Tax benefits for higher education are here.
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p970
If the course is provided by an institution of higher education that is qualified by the US Dept of Education, and if they provide you a 1098-T form for tuition you paid, you can claim the Lifetime Learning credit against the tuition you paid. Also, if the course is offered by a qualified higher education provider, you can claim the student loan interest deduction for interest you pay on the loan. The loan does not have to be a special student loan or offered by a student loan lender, but the loan must only be for tuition or other qualified higher education expenses. If you mingle tuition expenses with other borrowing, then you can't deduct the interest.
If the school is not qualified by the US Dept of Ed and does not issue a 1098-T, you can't use the Lifetime Learning credit or the student loan interest deduction.
