No. Coverdell IRAs are for qualified education expenses. If you want to claim the exception that the distribution was for tuition, then you should simultaneously report the scholarship portion that was received that exceeded qualified education expenses.
Please refer to page 5 of Pub 970 which states:
A scholarship or fellowship grant is tax free only to the extent:
• It doesn't exceed your qualified education expenses;
• It isn't designated or earmarked for other purposes (such as room and board), and doesn't require (by its terms) that it can't be used for qualified education expenses; and
• It doesn't represent payment for teaching, research, or other services required as a condition for receiving the scholarship.
For exceptions, see Payment for services, later. Use Worksheet 1-1 to figure the amount of a scholarship or fellowship grant you can exclude from gross income.
