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American Opportunity Credit: Who Can Claim It: Education Tax Benefits (2025 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “American Opportunity Credit: Who Can Claim It” within education tax benefits. The following material presents the IRS treatment of this topic, including the qualifications, exceptions, and examples in the source section. Read the rules alongside the facts of your own situation before deciding what to report, deduct, or document.

Adapted from Publication 970 (2025), Tax Benefits for Education, published by the Internal Revenue Service. This guide retains the source edition’s years, amounts, deadlines, and examples. It is guidance for that edition, not a statement that the same figures apply to every tax year.

American Opportunity Credit: Who Can Claim It

Generally, you can claim the American opportunity credit if all three of the following requirements are met.

  • You pay qualified education expenses of higher education.

  • You pay the education expenses for an eligible student.

  • The eligible student is either yourself, your spouse, or a dependent you claim on your tax return.

Note:

Qualified education expenses paid by a dependent you claim on your tax return, or by a third party for that dependent, are considered paid by you.

Student qualifications.

Generally, you can claim the American opportunity credit for a student only if all of the following four requirements are met.

  1. As of the beginning of 2025, the student had not completed the first 4 years of postsecondary education (generally, the freshman through senior years of college), as determined by the eligible educational institution. For this purpose, don’t include academic credit awarded solely because of the student’s performance on proficiency examinations.

  2. The American opportunity credit has not been claimed by you or anyone else (see below) for this student for any 4 tax years before 2025. If the American opportunity credit has been claimed for this student for any 3 or fewer tax years before 2025, this requirement is met.

  3. For at least one academic period beginning (or treated as beginning) in 2025, the student both:

    1. Was enrolled in a program that leads to a degree, certificate, or other recognized educational credential; and

    2. Carried at least one-half the normal full-time workload for his or her course of study.

      The standard for what is half of the normal full-time workload is determined by each eligible educational institution. However, the standard may not be lower than any of those established by the U.S. Department of Education under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

      For 2025, treat an academic period beginning in the first 3 months of 2026 as if it began in 2025 if qualified education expenses for the student were paid in 2025 for that academic period. See Prepaid expenses, later.

  4. As of the end of 2025, the student had not been convicted of a federal or state felony for possessing or distributing a controlled substance.

Example 1.

Sharon was eligible for the American opportunity credit for 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2024. Sharon’s parents claimed the American opportunity credit for Sharon on their 2019, 2020, and 2022 tax returns. Sharon claimed the American opportunity credit on her 2024 tax return. The American opportunity credit has been claimed for Sharon for 4 tax years before 2025. Therefore, the American opportunity credit can’t be claimed for Sharon for 2025. If Sharon files Form 8863 for 2025, the box on line 23 should be checked “Yes” and only the lifetime learning credit would be able to be claimed.

Example 2.

Wilbert was eligible for the American opportunity credit for 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2025. Wilbert’s parents claimed the American opportunity credit for Wilbert on their tax returns for 2021, 2022, and 2023. No one claimed an American opportunity credit for Wilbert for any other tax year. The American opportunity credit has been claimed for Wilbert for only 3 tax years before 2025. Therefore, Wilbert meets the second requirement to be eligible for the American opportunity credit. If Wilbert files Form 8863 for 2025, the box on line 23 should be checked “No.” If Wilbert meets all of the other requirements, he is eligible for the American opportunity credit.

Example 3.

Glenda enrolls on a full-time basis in a degree program for the 2026 spring semester, which begins in January 2026. Glenda pays the tuition for the 2026 spring semester in December 2025. Because the tuition Glenda paid in 2025 relates to an academic period that begins in the first 3 months of 2026, the eligibility to claim an American opportunity credit in 2025 is determined as if the 2026 spring semester began in 2025. Therefore, Glenda satisfies this third requirement.

. If the requirements above aren’t met for any student, you can’t claim the American opportunity credit for that student. You may be able to claim the lifetime learning credit for part or all of that student’s qualified education expenses instead..

“Qualified education expenses” are defined later under Qualified Education Expenses. “Eligible students” are defined later under Who Is an Eligible Student. A dependent you claim on your tax return is defined later under Who Can Claim a Dependent’s Expenses.

You may find Figure 2-1 helpful in determining if you can claim an American opportunity credit on your tax return.

Figure 2-1. Can You Claim the American Opportunity Credit for 2025?

Figure 2-1. Can You Claim the American Opportunity Credit for 2025?

Figure 2-1. Can You Claim the American Opportunity Credit for 2025?

Summary: This flowchart is used to determine if you qualify to claim the American opportunity Credit for 2025.

Start

Decision (1)

Did you pay qualified education expenses in 2025 for an eligible student?*

  • IF YES continue to Decision (2)
  • IF NO continue to Process (a)
  • For note, continue to Footnote 1.

Decision (2)

Did the academic period for which you paid qualified education expenses begin in 2025 or the first 3 months of 2025?

  • IF YES continue to Decision (3)
  • IF NO continue to Process (a)

Decision (3)

Is the eligible student you, your spouse (if married filing jointly), or your dependent you claim on your tax return?

  • IF YES continue to Decision (4)
  • IF NO continue to Process (a)

Decision (4)

Are you listed as a dependent on another person’s tax return?

  • IF YES continue to Process (a)
  • IF NO continue to Decision (5)

Decision (5)

Is your filing status married filing separately?

  • IF YES continue to Process (a)
  • IF NO continue to Decision (6)

Decision (6)

For any part of 2025, were you (or your spouse) a nonresident alien who didn’t elect to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes?

  • IF YES continue to Process (a)
  • IF NO continue to Decision (7)

Decision (7)

Is your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) less than $90,000 ($180,000 if married filing jointly)?

  • IF YES continue to Decision (8)
  • IF NO continue to Process (a)

Decision (8)

Did you use the same expenses to claim a deduction or credit?

  • IF YES continue to Process (a)
  • IF NO continue to Decision (9)

Decision (9)

Were the same expenses paid entirely with a tax-free scholarship, grant, or employer-provided educational assistance?

  • IF YES continue to Process (a)
  • IF NO continue to Decision (10)

Decision (10)

Did you or someone else receive a refund of all the expenses?

  • IF YES continue to Process (a)
  • IF NO continue to Process (b)

Process (a)

You can’t claim the American opportunity credit for 2025

  • Continue to End

Process (b)

You can claim the American opportunity credit for 2025.**

  • For note, continue to Footnote 2.
  • Continue to End
  • Footnote 1: Qualified education expenses paid by a dependent you claim on your tax return, or by a third party for that dependent, are considered paid by you.
  • Footnote 2: Your education credits may be limited to your tax liability minus certain credits. See Form 8863 for more details.

End

Using the guidance

Keep the documents that establish the dates, amounts, and circumstances described above. References to other chapters, forms, worksheets, or earlier and later sections refer to the linked IRS publication. Check the full publication and its updates before relying on a rule for a different tax year or a situation not addressed here.

Sources and further reading

The cited U.S. government text is in the public domain. Source accessed October 28, 2026. Fynoptic has organized this material for educational use and is independent of, and not endorsed by, the IRS.

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