And to add just a bit for TurboTax on 2018 returns, the amount you need to report as going toward "Room and Board" (ie taxable amount to student) must be: Total free aid-Total Qualified Expense+Amount you want to claim toward A.O. C. up to 4000. If you are a dependent student, your parents will be the ones getting the credit on their return, and on Line 1 of your return you will have the amount of scholarship money you are claiming as taxable. Assuming you the student are in the 10% tax bracket, the amount you will want to claim from the A.O.C. is likely somewhere between 2000 and 4000 at the point where it causes student tax owed to go up because this is where the credit on your parent's return may be canceled by the increase in taxes on your return. Compare various amounts of AOC and the resultant taxes to confirm.
