Yep.. I guess it depends on the credit too. For example, for the AOC, Pub 970 clearly says:
Generally, you can claim the American opportunity credit
if all three of the following requirements are met.
-You pay qualified education expenses of higher education.
-You pay the education expenses for an eligible student.
=The eligible student is either yourself, your spouse, or
a dependent for whom you claim an exemption on
your tax return.
So the best one can say really, is that if the BF did not actually pay them, he can't claim the AOC. I'm sure this holds true for the other credits. But not getting into that because we already know the criteria differs for each credit.
