There are only two possible ways a student can provide more than half of their own support.
- The student has a W-2 job or is self employed and earns a sufficient amount in the tax year to justify any claim to providing more than half of their own support. That earned income "MUST" be more than the total of all third party support received in the tax year. Third party support is scholarships, grants, 529 distributions, fellowships, gifts from Aunt Mary, money from mom and dad, etc.
- The student is the *PRIMARY* borrower on a *qualified* student loans, and sufficient funds were distributed to the student during the tax year to justify a claim to providing more than half of their own support. The funds distributed from the loan must be more than the total of all third party support (identified above) received during the tax year.
Additionally, support costs must be realistic. For example, if the student has $80,000 in third party support and made a million dollars, that would mean they would have to of spent more than $80,000 of their own money *in addition to* the $80,000 of third party support to support themselves for the entire year. Now I don't care where you go to school on this planet, there is no way on this green earth that an undergraduate can justify a total of $160,000 to support themselves for one year. Support costs must be realistic.
