It sounds like the university might have actually incorrectly listed the tuition and fees on the prior year 1098T instead of the current year. This is what our university seems to have just done for 2018. They included $4100 of tuition for Spring 2019 on the 2018 1098T seemingly because they listed this charge on the December 2018 bill. However, they also listed a credit for anticipated scholarships, so the December bill said we did not need to pay the $4100. The online account summary showed a balance of $4100, but that this was not due yet because of the pending scholarship. When all was said and done, there was no listing of a 4100$ credit in 2018 in the account. I am not sure what to do, but am leaning toward considering Box 1 incorrect and hoping the IRS will accept this explanation should they ask. All this college expense stuff is very confusing. We definitely did not pay this expense it 2018, but did we incur it and what is the implication?
