Updated October 18, 2026. Quick answer: Line 31 is the student’s adjusted qualified education expenses for the lifetime learning credit. You figure it on the worksheet in the instructions: expenses paid in 2025, less tax-free assistance and certain refunds. You use it only for a student for whom you did not complete lines 27 to 30, and the total goes to Part II, line 10.
IRS worksheets read line by line: Form 8863 Credit Limit Worksheet and Form 8863 Adjusted Qualified Education Expenses Worksheet.
What line 31 asks for
The caption reads “Adjusted qualified education expenses (see instructions). Include the total of all amounts from all” Parts III, line 31, on Part II, line 10. The instructions say “Enter the student’s adjusted qualified education expenses on line 31.” This page is part of the Form 8863 walk-through.
Which students use line 31
The form cautions “You can’t take the American opportunity credit and the lifetime learning credit for the same student in the same year.” The instructions say the same: “You cannot claim the lifetime learning credit for any student if you claim the American opportunity credit for that student for the same tax year.” A student who stopped at a gate question is routed here; see the lines 23 to 26 page.
What counts as qualified education expenses
The instructions give the general rule: “Generally, qualified education expenses are amounts paid in 2025 for tuition and fees required for the student’s enrollment or attendance at an eligible educational institution.” For this credit the rule on books and supplies is narrower: “Qualified education expenses include amounts paid for books, supplies, and equipment only if required to be paid to the institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance.”
Some costs are excluded: “Personal expenses. This means room and board, insurance, medical expenses (including student health fees), transportation, and other similar personal, living, or family expenses.” On timing: “Qualified education expenses paid in 2025 for an academic period that begins in the first 3 months of 2026 can be used in figuring an education credit for 2025 only.”
Adjusting the expenses: the worksheet
The instructions say “For each student, reduce the qualified education expenses paid in 2025 by or on behalf of that student under the following rules.” The first reduction is “For taxfree educational assistance received in 2025, reduce the qualified education expenses for each academic period by the amount of taxfree educational assistance allocable to that academic period.” The scholarship side is explained on the Form 1098-T box 5 page.
The worksheet is a table in the instructions, so read it there. It comes with this direction: “Complete a separate worksheet for each student for each academic period beginning or treated as beginning (see below) in 2025 for which you paid (or are treated as having paid) qualified education expenses in 2025.” The instructions for line 31 say “Use the Adjusted Qualified Education Expenses Worksheet next to figure each student’s adjusted qualified education expenses.”
Where the number comes from
It comes from what was paid and the adjustments, not from the school statement alone: “use only the amounts you actually paid (plus any amounts you’re treated as having paid) in 2025”. The statement’s payments figure is at Form 1098-T box 1.
Where it goes next
The instructions say “Enter the total of all amounts from Part III, line 31, on Part II, line 10.” Line 10 of the form says “After completing Part III for each student, enter the total of all amounts from all Parts III, line 31.” Part II is covered on the lines 9 to 19 page, and the credit then goes to Schedule 3 line 3.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 Form 8863 (Education Credits) and its 2025 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-18. They are the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The form header says “Attach to Form 1040 or 1040-SR.” Check the tax year printed on the form you are filling in and use the line numbers on that year’s form, because a different year’s form can number or word its lines differently.
Common mistakes
- Claiming both credits for one student. The instructions say “You cannot claim the lifetime learning credit for any student if you claim the American opportunity credit for that student for the same tax year.”
- Counting room and board. The instructions exclude “Personal expenses. This means room and board, insurance, medical expenses (including student health fees), transportation, and other similar personal, living, or family expenses.”
- Counting books bought from anywhere. For this credit the instructions say “Qualified education expenses include amounts paid for books, supplies, and equipment only if required to be paid to the institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance.”
Related: Form 1098-T box 5, Form 1098-T box 1, and Schedule 3 line 3.
Sources
- Instructions for Form 8863, Education Credits (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8863.pdf
- Form 8863, Education Credits (American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning Credits) (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8863.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 18, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.