Am I a full time student if I began college in September of 2025

andrewgroter05 — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 11:32:07 GMT

I received a 1098-T as well. How does being a "part time" student, despite being full time for 4 months, affect my taxes?

Re: Am I a full time student if I began college in September of 2025

Hal_Al — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 13:27:05 GMT

Q. How does being a "part time" student, despite being full time for 4 months, affect my taxes?

A. Simple answer: it does not affect YOUR taxes, at all. Or more accurately, seldom affects them.

The 5 month full time student rule is only about the ability of a parent (or other close relative) to claim a college student as a dependent.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test.

The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for parts of at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled
He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation
He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year

Re: Am I a full time student if I began college in September of 2025

Hal_Al — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 14:38:30 GMT

Here's a post on the five main points on the 1098-T:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/college-education/discussion/re-what-do-i-do-with-form-1098t/01/3760212#M63114

topic Am I a full time student if I began college in September of 2025 in Education

Am I a full time student if I began college in September of 2025

Re: Am I a full time student if I began college in September of 2025

Re: Am I a full time student if I began college in September of 2025