No it is not a Covid related delay. The school permanently delayed the start date of the Spring Semester to February so that there could now be a longer 6 week Winter session. The Spring Semester now runs Feb 6 - May 25.
I have seen other Turbotax Community discussions like the one linked by ColeenD3 but they don't quote the exact verbage from PUB 17, but rather re-interpret IRS wording in an attempt to define full time student. The IRS specifically uses the word "Enrolled" and the school has a very strict definition, which is to be registered for classes and in a "paid" status, which will happen in January in our case.
I would argue if the intent of the IRS was different, it would have been easy to state the student had to be "attending classes" to be considered a full time student, but they specifically use the word "enrolled".
A new academic calendar will be in place next year at UMass Amherst, creating a six-week Winter Session, a later end-date for the Spring Semester, and Commencement 2023 scheduled for Memorial Day Weekend. This revision was adopted to benefit students academically in a variety of ways, and we encourage you to make note of these revisions as you plan ahead for the coming year.
