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Student Affairs
Office of Financial Aid
Hope Scholarship and
Lifetime Learning Tax Credits
Conley James, Director
tel. 718.270.6141
Hope Scholarship credit
This scholarship provides credit up to $1500 for a student who
was matriculated and enrolled at least half time in one of the
first two years of post-secondary education.
Lifetime Learning tax credit
Provides a credit of up to $1000 per year for all qualified
students, including graduate and continuing education students.
These programs took effect in 1998 and were designed to help
taxpayers reduce the cost of tuition and fees paid for higher
education.
Who qualifies for these credits?
If you file a federal income tax return and claim yourself as a
deduction and your income is below the cutoff, you may qualify.
If your parents, (or guardian), claim you on their tax return,
they may qualify. Taxpayers earning more than $50,000 of
modified adjusted gross income and married or taxpayers filing
jointly with more than $100,000 of modified adjusted gross
income are not eligible.
Medgar
Evers
College cannot determine if you are eligible. You should consult
a tax advisor or obtain IRS publication 970 and Form 8863 to
review the eligibility criteria.
What if Financial Aid paid some of my tuition?
Tuition and fees covered by grants, scholarships or waivers do
not count when claiming tax credits. Only those expenses paid by
student loans or your own resources (or your parents own
resources) may be included. Box number 1 on Form 1098-T contains
the amount of qualified tuition and fees you paid during a
particular year. If you made a late payment for a prior eligible
term or a prepayment for next semester tuition and fees, that
payment is also included in Box number 1. Box number 2 reports
the amount of grants, scholarships and waivers you received
which offset the previous tax year tuition and fees.
What if I have questions about the information reported
on the 1098-T?
The staff in the Bursar's Office will assist you with any
questions you may have about the information reported on the
1098-T. Bursar's office is located in Room S-308, of the School
of Business and Student Service Building (Telephone
718.270.6091).
Where can I get more information?
You can call the IRS at 1-800-TAX-FORM and request Publication
970 and Form 8863. You may also wish to consult a tax advisor.
For more information about the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit and
the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit,
visit the web sites below: