Do full-time college students need to file taxes if they have no job but received scholarships?

Yes, you might need to file taxes even as a full-time student without a traditional job. Here's why: scholarships used for qualified education expenses (tuition, fees, books, supplies required for courses) are generally tax-free. However, scholarship money used for living expenses, housing, meals, or optional equipment is considered taxable income. Based on what you've shared, the $4,500 that wasn't directly applied to tuition could be partially taxable, depending on exactly how you used it. If some went to required textbooks, that portion would be tax-free. But money used for living expenses would be taxable. The filing requirement depends on your total taxable income and filing status. For most single dependents in 2025, you'd need to file if your unearned income exceeds $1,250 or if your earned income exceeds $13,950. Taxable scholarship portions count as earned income for this purpose.

I was in a similar situation last year and discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which was super helpful for figuring out my scholarship tax situation. I uploaded my scholarship letter and financial aid statement, and it immediately showed me which parts were taxable and which weren't. It even explained how the qualified education expenses worked in my specific situation. What surprised me was that some of my scholarship money that went to my meal plan was taxable, even though I thought all university expenses would be tax-free! The tool showed me exactly what I needed to report and helped me understand the rules around filing as a student. Definitely worth checking out if you're confused about scholarship taxation.

Update: I was skeptical but I tried taxr.ai after my previous comment. Have to admit it was actually really helpful! My situation was more complicated than I thought - I had a partial athletic scholarship where some went to tuition and some to housing. The tool clearly showed me that about $3,200 of my scholarship was taxable (the housing portion). The best part was it showed me I qualified for the American Opportunity Credit which gave me a $1,000 refund even though I didn't have a job! I would've completely missed that if I'd just ignored filing taxes. The explanation about how scholarships affect taxes was way clearer than what my financial aid office told me (which was basically "it depends, talk to a tax person").

If you need to contact the IRS to ask about your scholarship taxation situation, good luck getting through. I spent HOURS on hold trying to get clarification about my taxable scholarship income last year. Then I found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - it was a game changer. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of the 3+ hours I was spending on hold before. The IRS agent I spoke with explained exactly how to report my scholarship income and confirmed I was eligible for education credits even with only scholarship income. Honestly didn't think it would work but it saved me so much time and frustration during tax season.

Well I need to eat my words. After being completely skeptical about Claimyr, I actually tried it yesterday because I was desperate to ask about my scholarship situation before the filing deadline. It actually worked exactly as described - I got a call back in about 20 minutes and was connected to an IRS agent. The agent confirmed that I needed to report my $5,100 in scholarship money that went toward my apartment rent as taxable income, but that my books were not taxable since they were required for classes. She also explained how to claim the education credits which I didn't even know I qualified for. Honestly saved me from making a mistake on my return and potentially getting audited. So yeah, I was wrong. The service does exactly what it claims. Definitely beats waiting on hold for half the day.

Don't forget that even if you need to file taxes on scholarship money, as a student you might qualify for education tax credits! I'm a college junior and I claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit every year - it's worth up to $2,500, and up to $1,000 of that is refundable (meaning you can get it back even if you don't owe any taxes). You need to have qualified education expenses and be enrolled at least half-time in a degree program. Even with only scholarship income, it's worth filing to get this credit!

Quick question - if I'm claimed as a dependent on my parents' taxes, can I still file my own return for my scholarship income? Or does all my income get reported on their return?