turbo tax told me I didn’t qualify because
1. No taxable income
If you had no taxable income in 2019, then it's quite apparent that you qualify as a dependent on someone else's tax return; more than likely your parent's tax return. With that, you should not be reporting "any" education stuff on your tax return at all - if you're even required to file a tax return. With no taxable income for 2019, I wonder if you have "any" earned income in 2019. If not, then why are you filing a tax return? Maybe you have excess scholarship/grant/529 distributions that would be taxable income to you? That's the only reason I can come up with at this point, as to why you would file a tax return for 2019 at all.
I’ve been in college since 2012
Almost 8 years thus far? My guess is that you must be studying in the medical field for something highly specialized, such as a surgeon of some type. That would also mean you are over the age of 23 on Dec 31 of the tax year, and at best you might qualify as a "relative dependent" on your parents tax return. But I doubt that since the relative dependent rules require them to provide more than half of your support for the entire year (the child dependent rules do not have that requirement.)
Basically, to qualify for any education credits you must have "EARNED" income that is reported to you on either a W-2, or on a 1099-MISC in box 3 or 7. Anything else is not "earned" income.
