Although room and board (R&B) are not qualified expenses for a tuition credit or for scholarships to be tax free, R&B are qualified expenses for a 529 distribution.
Off campus rent and food are eligible expenses for a 529 distribution, but the amount is limited to the lesser of your actual cost or what the school charges on campus students for R&B (technically the schools "allowance for cost of attendance" for financial aid purposes). If he lives at home, the school’s R&B “allowance for cost of attendance” for student living with parents.
