@jawckey
No. The tuition credit goes with the student's exemption (dependency). If she is not your dependent, you can not claim a tuition credit for paying her expenses.
However, she may claim it, even though you paid for her schooling. Grad students are not eligible for the refundable education credit. So, if she did not have enough income to have a tax liability, the credit will do her no good.
She would have to have had more than $4300 of income to not qualify as your dependent.
There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit (under 24) and student status test, a relationship test and a residence test.
A person can still be a Qualifying relative dependent, if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent:
- Closely Related OR live with the taxpayer ALL year
- His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4300 (2020).
- The taxpayer must have provided more than 1/2 his support
In either case:
- He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico
- He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own
- He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer
