Is room and board a qualified 529 expense?

What the publication says

A 529 plan, which Publication 970 calls a qualified tuition program or QTP, gives tax-free treatment to earnings when the distribution is used for qualified education expenses of the designated beneficiary. For college and other postsecondary schooling the publication lists tuition and fees, books, supplies and equipment required for enrollment or attendance, special needs services, certain computers and internet access, and then room and board. For room and board it sets two conditions. The expense must be incurred by a student enrolled at least half-time. And it qualifies only to the extent it is not more than the greater of two amounts.

The two-amount cap

The first amount is the allowance for room and board that the school determined and included in its cost of attendance for federal financial aid purposes, for a particular academic period and living arrangement of the student. The second amount is the actual amount charged, but only if the student lives in housing owned or operated by the school. You take the greater of the two as your ceiling. The publication adds that you may need to contact the school for the figures, which is practical advice: the cost of attendance is published by the financial aid office, and living arrangements are usually split into on-campus, off-campus and living-with-parents categories with different allowances.

Half-time means enrolled for at least half the full-time academic workload for the student's course of study, under the standards of the school. A student taking one course while working full time may not meet that test, and then none of the room and board qualifies.

Worked examples

A student lives in an off-campus apartment and pays $13,500 of rent and food for the academic year. The school's cost of attendance includes a $11,200 off-campus living allowance. The student is enrolled full-time. Qualified room and board is $11,200; the other $2,300 is not a qualified use even though it is a genuine living cost. A 529 distribution used for that $2,300 is a nonqualified distribution, and the earnings share is taxable.

A second student lives in a school-owned residence hall that charges $12,400 for housing and the meal plan, while the cost of attendance allowance for on-campus students is $11,000. The greater of the two is $12,400, so the whole $12,400 qualifies. The tool above handles both: enter the school's allowance, enter the actual charge only if the housing is owned or operated by the school, and it applies the greater cap and the half-time test.

What does not carry over

The same words mean different things for different benefits. The publication warns that the cost of room and board is a qualified education expense for a QTP but not for the education savings bond program, and it is also not part of the expenses used for the American opportunity credit or the lifetime learning credit. Within 529 rules, room and board is a postsecondary item only. The qualified elementary and secondary expense list for a 529 names tuition, curriculum, books and online materials, outside tutoring, test fees, dual enrollment fees and educational therapies, and K-12 tuition is limited to $10,000. It does not name room and board. (The Coverdell ESA is different: it allows room and board for K-12 only if the school requires or provides it.)

Also remember what else sits on the same bill. If part of the bill was paid with a tax-free scholarship or other tax-free educational assistance, that reduces the expenses before you compare them with the 529 distribution, and expenses used to claim an education credit cannot be counted twice. Our page on whether a 529 withdrawal is taxable shows the formula.

Reporting and records

You will receive Form 1099-Q from each program that made a distribution in 2025, showing the gross distribution, the earnings and your basis. The designated beneficiary is treated as the recipient only if the money went to the student or to the school for the student's benefit; otherwise the account owner is. Keep the school's cost-of-attendance page, your lease or housing statement and proof of enrollment status with your tax records, since the cap depends on figures you do not control. The publication does not tell you how states treat the expenses, so check your own state's rules separately.

Sources

• IRS Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education (2025): Chapter 7, Qualified Higher Education Expenses. Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 970 (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Dollar limits, income thresholds and dates in this publication are for tax year 2025; check the current publication and form instructions for the year you file. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.