If you have no income, and no tax due on that income, you cannot use the lifetime learning credit, nor the $1500 part of the AOC. Those credits can only be used to reduce your taxable income to zero, and with no taxable income, they would not help you. There is a portion of the AOC that can be paid to you in cash, whether you have taxable income or not, but only if you are at least a half-time student, and not a dependent of your parents. If your parents can claim you as a dependent, you cannot claim this credit.
