topic Re: Student/Dependent Status in Education

Student/Dependent Status

denver_yoda — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:21:59 GMT

My daughter, who will be 19, is currently living and working in a different state and taking dance at a dance school 5 days a week 3 hours a day. I do not believe the school is accredited, merely a dance company that teaches ballet. Does this allow/prevent her from being considered a full time student? If she is not considered a full time student, what does this do for my ability to claim her on my taxes? Will she need to file her own taxes and not be claimed as a dependent? She is still living at home when not in classes (Thanksgiving/Christmas/school breaks and summer). Also, she was full time at home until August (first half of year she was still in high school).

Re: Student/Dependent Status

Bsch4477 — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 23:42:40 GMT

If she was in high school for 5 months in 2022 she was a full time student and your dependent. If not she is still your dependent for 2022 if you provided more than half of her support and she earned less than $4,400.

Re: Student/Dependent Status

Hal_Al — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 15:26:04 GMT

Q. The school is not accredited, merely a dance company that teaches ballet. Does this allow/prevent her from being considered a full time student?

A. Maybe.

But, as @Bsch4477 said, the question is academic for the current tax year, since your child was a full time high school student for the required 5 months.

To claim a tuition credit, your student must be enrolled in an "eligible institution" for post secondary education. But, the rules for being a full time student, for purposes of claiming your child as a dependent, are not as stringent.

From IRS pub 17:

Student defined.

To qualify as a student (for dependency), your child must be, during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year:
1. 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
2. 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.