American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits (Tax Year 2026)
Near the end of January 2027 you will receive an Internal Revenue Form 1098-T in the mail. The University is required to issue this form to each student who attended at any time during the 2026 calendar year. Retain this important form for income tax preparation purposes for 2026. If you do not receive a Form 1098-T shortly after January 31, please visit https://heartland.ecsi.net/ to request a duplicate. To request detailed information of amounts billed and paid, call the Students Accounts Office at (717) 477-1211.
Form 1098-T provides part of the information you need to claim education tax benefits provided by the American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits. Depending on your income (or your family’s income, if you are a dependent), whether you were enrolled full or half-time, and the amount of your qualified educational expenses for the year, you may be eligible for a federal education tax credit. You can find detailed information about claiming education tax credits in IRS Publication 970, page 9.
The Form 1098-T is an informational tool only. It should be used along with the taxpayers own records of tuition and fee amounts paid to complete IRS Form 8863 to claim the tax credit.
This information is provided as required by the IRS and does not represent tax advice from the University. The taxpayer should refer to relevant IRS forms and publications or seek the counsel of an informed tax preparer or adviser. Please do not contact the University for an explanation relating to the eligibility requirements for, or calculations of, any allowable education tax credit.
For more information about Form 1098-T, visit https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1098t_18.pdf
Prior to 2018, the Form 1098-T included a figure in Box 2 that represented the qualified tuition and related expenses (QTRE) Shippensburg University billed to your student account for the calendar (tax) year. Due to a change to institutional reporting requirements under federal law, beginning with tax year 2018, universities were required to report in Box 1 the amount of QTRE you paid during the year.
Box 1 represents amounts paid in calendar year 2026, capped at the total amount of QTRE billed in calendar year 2026 plus previously unpaid QTRE charges from 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. Keep in mind that the university begins billing spring charges in November of the previous year, but most payments, including the majority of financial aid payments occur after January 1 of the following year.
You should work with your tax preparer to determine the amounts you can claim as payments for 2026 based upon your financial records. The university can provide you with details of 2018 through 2026 payments and charges on your account, if needed, to assist you in completing your tax return.