During 2022 my 22-year-old son who lives at home and is mostly supported by us was a college student. His community college considers a student who takes 12 credit hours during a semester to be a full-time student. My son took 12 credit hours during the spring semester involving four three-credit hour courses. Three of the classes met from January into May for one session each week and one began in March and met for two sessions each week and concluded in May. According to IRS Publication 501 for 2022:
"Student defined. To qualify as a student, 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 and 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.
The 5 calendar months don't have to be consecutive.
Full-time student. A full-time student is a
student who is enrolled for the number of hours
or courses the school considers to be full-time
attendance."
My question: According to the school, my son was a full-time student for the semester because he took a total of 12-credit hours that semester, even if one course, which met the same number of hours during the semester, met for parts of three months, not five. Does the IRS, however, consider him a full-time student, though, if one of those four classes met for less than five months? I cannot claim him as a dependent unless he qualifies as a full-time student.
