Full-Time Student
A full-time student is a student who is enrolled for the number of hours or courses that the school considers to be full-time attendance.
To qualify as a student, the person must be, during some part of each of any five calendar months of the year:
- A full-time student at a school that has a regular teaching staff, course of study, and a regularly enrolled student body at the school, or
- A student taking a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school described in (1), or by a state, county, or local government agency.
The five calendar months do not have to be consecutive.
This information is found in the Personal Exemptions and Dependents chapter of Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax.
https://itap1.for.irs.gov/owda/0/resource/Commentary_Files_Redirect_ITA/en-US/help/ftstud.html
Further reference:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/re-my-daughter-is-20-years-old-and-in-school-gett...
It may depend on why you are asking the question; to see if you are considered a dependent or to claim a tuition credit. For the credit, a more relevant question may be "is the school an 'eligible institution''.
To be eligible for the tuition credits, the course must be taken at "an eligible institution". The school should be able to tell you if it is an eligible educational institution. In general, an eligible educational institution is an accredited college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary educational institution, including accredited, public, nonprofit, and proprietary (privately-owned, profit-making) postsecondary institutions. Additionally, in order to be an eligible educational institution, the school must be eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the Department of Education. If they issue a 1098-T they are probably an eligible institution.
Enter your school at the link below, to see if it's on the dept. of education list.
https://www.savingforcollege.com/eligible-institutions https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/home(download)
