An eligible educational institution is generally any accredited public, nonprofit, or proprietary (private) college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary institution. Also, the institution must be eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the Department of Education. An eligible educational institution also includes certain educational institutions located outside the United States that are eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the Department of Education. Please see this website for a list of U.S. and foreign qualifying education institutions: https://ifap.ed.gov/ifap/fedSchoolCodeList.jsp Please note that in addition to being on the list, foreign institutions must also have a U.S. EIN.

Generally, qualified education expenses are amounts paid in 2024 for tuition and fees required for the student's enrollment or attendance at an eligible educational institution. Qualified education expenses include amounts paid for tuition, fees, and course materials, which include books, supplies, and equipment needed for a course of study, whether or not the materials are purchased from the educational institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance. Qualified education expenses include nonacademic fees, such as student activity fees, athletic fees, or other expenses unrelated to the academic course of instruction, only if the fee must be paid to the institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance. However, fees for personal expenses such as room and board, insurance, medical expenses (including student health fees), transportation, and other similar personal, living or family expenses are not qualifying education expenses. Additionally, expenses related to any course or other education involving sports, games, or hobbies, or any noncredit course, unless such course or other education is part of the student’s degree program are not qualifying education expenses.

An academic period is any quarter, semester, trimester, or any other period of study as reasonably determined by an eligible educational institution. If an eligible educational institution uses credit hours or clock hours and doesn't have academic terms, each payment period may be treated as an academic period. For 2024, treat an academic period beginning in the first 3 months of 2025 as if it began in 2024 if qualified education expenses for the student were paid in 2024 (between 1/1/2024 and 12/31/2024) for that academic period.

Tax-free educational assistance includes:
1. the tax-free part of any scholarship or fellowship grant (including Pell grants);
2. the tax-free part of any employer-provided educational assistance;
3. Veterans' educational assistance; and
4. any other educational assistance that is excludable from gross income (tax-free), other than as a gift, bequest, devise, or inheritance.