Santa Clara University

Educational Tax Credits

You may be eligible for Higher Education tax credit, under two tax benefits, designed to help students/parents finance their education. If you are enrolled in an eligible degree, certificate program or taking courses to acquire or improve job skills you may qualify for a Hope Scholarship or Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. Please read the information below for eligibility:

Hope Scholarship Credit

The Hope Credit provides for a credit up to $1,500.00 for each eligible student’s qualified educational expenses paid in a given tax year. This credit may be claimed for only two tax years for each eligible student. The student must be enrolled in one of the first two years of post-secondary education (generally, the freshman or sophomore years of college) at an eligible school. The Student must be taking at least one-half of the normal full-time workload for at least one academic period during the tax year.

Lifetime Learning Credit

The Lifetime Learning Credit provides for a tax credit of up to $2,000.00 per eligible taxpayer, for the total qualified educational expenses paid during the tax year for all eligible student(s). This tax credit may be claimed for as many tax years that qualified education expenses are paid. Student must be enrolled at an eligible school during the tax year as an undergraduate or graduate student; OR enrolled in one or more classes to improve job skills, including required continuing education courses.

Tax credits are based on the amount of qualified tuition and fees, less grants and other tax-free educational assistance, and the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income. For complete information regarding these two tax credits and eligibility please visit the IRS website: www.irs.gov/taxtopics/index.html.

Please note: The information provided above is intended as a general summary of these tax benefits. To determine your eligibility for any of these benefits, you should consult a qualified tax advisor or contact the IRS at www.irs.gov/taxtopics/index.html or by calling (800) 829-3676 / (800) 829-1040. For additional information, refer to IRS Publication 970, “Tax Benefits for Higher Education”.

Student Information Reported

For the Tax Year, eligible educational institutions are required to report the student’s name, address, social security number or taxpayer identification number, academic status and financial information. This information is provided on the 1098-T Tax form. Each tax year educational institutions are also required to report prior year qualified tuition & fee and gift aid adjustments. These amounts will be entered in Box 3 and Box 5 of the 1098-T form. Box 7 of the 1098-T form does not apply to academic schools. This box will be blank.

Students with Nonresident Alien Status

Institutions are not required to report the demographic and financial data for students with nonresident alien status during a reporting year unless the student requests a 1098-T form. Students with nonresident alien status must request a 1098-T each year they attend school and pay qualified educational expenses. To request a 1098-T tax credit form please follow the instructions give above. 

1098-T Tax Credit Form

Santa Clara University is required to provide students, or individual payer of the student’s tuition and fees if the student is a minor (age 17 or under), with a statement of all University charges and credits made during the calendar year. The 1098-T form is used by eligible educational institutions to provide this information as well as report the demographic/financial information on students to the IRS as required by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. The 1098-T tax form is used by the taxpayer in the computation of any eligible tax credit and must be provided to their tax preparer when preparing their income tax returns. 

Santa Clara University is using an outside vendor, TCRS, to generate this form on our behalf. TCRS will be mailing the 1098-T form to the student no later than January 31 and will report the data to the IRS by the March 31.

* Obtaining your form - go to the TCRS website www.1098-T.com. Click the “View 1098-T” icon. Your form will appear. For a summary of all the financial information listed on your 1098-T form, go to the menu bar and click on “Supplemental Form”. 

How to Request a Form or Changes

If you did not receive a 1098-T form you can go online at www.1098-T.com to obtain a copy. If changes are needed you may submit a completed 1098-T Request Form, located online at www.scu.edu/bursar/forms, to the Bursar’s Office by mail or by fax. Address and fax information is located on the form.
Your request should include your name, address, SCU ID #, SSN #, enrolled terms for the tax year, and school of attendance (UG, Grad, Law). Requests may take 5-7 days to process. Once completed, the student will be notified that the form is available online at www.1098-T.com. A hard copy of the form will not be mailed to the student. Phone inquiries can be made to TCRS at (877) 467-3821.