You can only get a credit for education expenses paid in the tax year. Therefore, your qualified education expense for 2015 would be the expenses you actually paid in 2015. A lot of schools report to the student the amount that was billed for the year in box 2 of Form 1098T. This may not always be the same as the amount paid. You will need to adjust the amount on your 1098T to reflect the amount actually paid for the year. To do this, click on the link titled "What if this is not what I paid to this school" under box 2 on the 1098T screen. You can adjust the amount to what was actually paid here.
You should allocate the scholarship to the academic period it is received for. Sometimes there is a timing difference that can make the information on 1098T's incorrect. If you only paid for the one semester in 2015, only enter the scholarship income for one semester. You will need to remember to report the additional scholarship income next year.
