"You are currently paying back the DOE via paycheck deductions, which paid for your tuition upfront to your university".
That sounds like a loan. So, it depends on when you used the loan money for education. You can not deduct loan payments made this year that was repayment for tuition paid in previous years.
But if the school received the payment, this year, it does count. The school should be including the payment in box 1 of your 1098-T. What you have to be mindful of, schools frequently (and mistakenly) also put loan money received in box 5 (scholarships) of the 1098-T. There's a workaround in TT if that happens.
