This is what my school told me: “Because your Spring 2019 semester was charged in 2018, those payments are reflected on your 2018 tax form. What we report is based on when you are billed rather than when you pay”
If I was also confirmed by the school to have paid in January 2019, the 1098-T itself is not wrong given the school reports on when billed so the first two boxes would be blank. But it is an informational form, so me being paying in 2019 wouldn’t be reflected and I have to clarify that. This isn’t a confusing situation, it’s just one I have no clarity on for what applies to my situation...
