<p>OP - NO. You still have some mistaken ideas here. </p>
<p>“Cost of attendance” often includes things like personal expenses and travel. The only Qualified Educational Expenses for purposes of the AOC are tuition and fees (only fees that are required for attendance at the school, BUT a student health services fee is NOT a QEE) and required books/materials/supplies.</p>
<p>If a loan taken out by you, or by your daughter (including one as part of her FA package), was used to pay for QEE (again, miscellaneous personal expenses don’t count), then that amount can be used for the AOC. Read Pub. 970 - it clearly states that expenses paid (by cash or loan) by your DEPENDENT child count as being paid by the parent for purposes of the AOC.</p>
<p>Shifting around of scholarship money to count as taxable scholarship so parents can claim the AOC can only be done if the parents or student paid <em>something</em> out-of-pocket (and only to the extent of that amount). If tuition, room and board were all covered by scholarships/grants (and it sounds like that was the case here), then the only expense that can be claimed for the AOC is required books. If books were also covered by scholarships or a voucher, then nothing can be claimed for the AOC.</p>
<p>In your case, since $890 of summer tuition was paid out of your pocket (i.e, not covered by scholarships/grants), that amount can be claimed for the AOC. And in your case, that is the ONLY amount that can be claimed.</p>
<p>FYI, there were no meaningful changes (if any) between the 2011 and 2012 versions of Pub. 970.</p>
<p>Think about it - why would someone be given a tax credit for expenses that THEY didn’t pay, but were paid for by someone/something else - i.e. scholarships?</p>
<p>on edit - crossposted w/ mathmomvt. Edited for typos, clarification.</p>