All educational institutions are required to report payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses (QTRE) in Box 1 of the Form 1098-T for students enrolled during the calendar year. Scholarships or Grants awarded during the calendar year will be shown in Box 5.

Ball State has partnered with ECSI Corporation to produce our Forms 1098-T, including the electronic option. ECSI's website is secure, and ECSI will not share your private information. Form 1098-T will be made available to eligible students by the deadline prescribed by the Internal Revenue Service.

Click here for step-by-step directions on how to access your Form 1098-T.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Form 1098-T

Form 1098-T provides financial information regarding qualified payments toward tuition and related expenses, scholarships and/or grants and is used as proof that a student attended a qualifying higher education institution. The education payments reported on the form will sometimes mean a credit or deduction is available to taxpayers.

A copy of the Form 1098-T issued to each student is also provided to the IRS. The form can be used to assist taxpayers with claiming education tax credits or deductions, but is officially just proof that a student attended a qualifying higher education institution. The IRS does not expect the numbers on Form 1098-T to match the information reported on a tax return. Taxpayers should rely on their own records of actual payments made to educational institutions during the calendar year and additional questions or concerns should be directed to their tax advisor and/or the IRS.

Ball State partners with ECSI to produce the Form 1098-T. Visit the ECSI website and do the following:

  1. Select "Access Your 1098 Tax Documents"
  2. Select "Want to look up your 1098-T or 1098-E tax form?"
  3. Select "I need my 1098-T tuition tax statement"
  4. Type "Ball State University" in the "School Name" field
  5. Type in your first name, last name, social security number, and zip code
  6. Click the "Continue" button

For more information, contact ECSI

The University is required to provide students enrolled during the calendar year with financial information regarding qualified charges for tuition and related expenses, and scholarships or grants that were paid during the tax year on the Form 1098-T.

Rather than mailing the form, it will be provided on demand via ECSI. To download/re-print your Form 1098-T, visit the ECSI website and do the following:

  1. Select "Access Your 1098 Tax Documents"
  2. Select "Want to look up your 1098-T or 1098-E tax form?"
  3. Select "I need my 1098-T tuition tax statement"
  4. Type "Ball State University" in the "School Name" field
  5. Type in your first name, last name, social security number, and zip code
  6. Click the "Continue" button

For more information, contact ECSI

Tuition, fees and required course materials.

For more information see IRS Publication 970.

Students and authorized payers will need to review their payment history through eBill to calculate payments made in the calendar year toward Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses (QTRE).

To review the payments recorded between January 1 and December 31 and applied to Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses (QTRE), you will need to view the payment history on your eBill.

The amount provided in Box 1 serves as a resource to you when you complete your Form 1040. Consult your tax professional who can help you calculate the amount you will report.

There are potentially many reasons for this discrepancy. First, the amount in Box 1 only represents amounts paid for qualified tuition and related expenses (QTRE) and does not include payments made for room and board, insurance, health service fees, or parking which, though important, are not considered mandatory education expenses for tax purposes.

Secondly, Form 1098-T reports amounts that the student paid in a certain year, and the pay date does not necessarily correspond to the dates that the classes were attended. For example, tuition for the Spring semester is typically billed in December so a student may have paid tuition for the Spring semester in a prior year despite the fact that classes didn’t start until the current year. The best and most accurate source of information about the amounts that you paid for qualified tuition and related expenses will be your eBills.

If you would like to receive your Form 1098-T electronically, please give your consent by January 1 using the link provided below, and follow the step by step instructions. Form 1098-T will be available online before the end of January.

Fill Out Consent Form

If electronic consent is not received by January 1, the 1098-T will be mailed to the current mailing address on file. The IRS requires Form 1098-T to be postmarked by January 31st of the following calendar year. Regardless of delivery method, all forms are available online.

Please visit the ECSI website and do the following:

  1. Select "Access Your 1098 Tax Documents"
  2. Select "Want to look up your 1098-T or 1098-E tax form?"
  3. Select "I need my 1098-T tuition tax statement"
  4. Type "Ball State University" in the "School Name" field
  5. Type in your first name, last name, social security number, and zip code
  6. Click the "Continue" button

Yes, as long as the student has given the parent permission to receive Form 1098-T information. The student can do this by selecting the "Release of Information" link on ECSI's main account page.

No, students are directed to retrieve their Form 1098-T from the ECSI website by doing the following:

  1. Select "Access Your 1098 Tax Documents"
  2. Select "Want to look up your 1098-T or 1098-E tax form?"
  3. Select "I need my 1098-T tuition tax statement"
  4. Type "Ball State University" in the "School Name" field
  5. Type in your first name, last name, social security number, and zip code
  6. Click the "Continue" button

Yes. You may access it online.

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Not necessarily. Consult your tax preparer to determine your eligibility.

Remember that Form 1098-T records payments toward allowable charges (QTRE) and scholarships and grants that apply to your account during the calendar year. Email us, include your student ID number, and explain what information you feel is incorrect. In the extremely rare case that your Form 1098-T contains incorrect information, a corrected form may be issued.

After March 31, we’re beyond the request period for a new Form 1098-T to be created and processed. Due to penalties imposed by the IRS, we cannot process requests for Forms 1098-T after March 31.   However; we can provide you with a detailed list of your charges and payment throughout the tax year to assist in conversations with your tax preparer.

If you do not have a SSN/ITIN, you are classified as a nonresident alien (as defined by the Internal Revenue Code) and are coded as such in the Ball State student records system, you will not be sent a Form 1098-T. Please contact the IRS or your personal tax preparer for assistance.

We send the Form 1098-T to degree-seeking students who made payments during the calendar year. We also receive many returned Forms 1098-T because the mailing address of the student is no longer valid. Current students may obtain a Form 1098-T from the ECSI website.

We send the IRS Form 1098-T to every enrolled, degree-seeking students with qualified payments during the calendar year. Ball State’s position is that high school students do not meet its definition of enrolled. A Form 1098-T will not be issued for a student solely with high school status.

In order to receive your Form 1098-T for the current year. You must make that request by January 1. Requests made after January 1 will be applicable to the next reporting year.

However, you may still access the Form 1098-T online by visiting the ECSI website by doing the following:

  1. Select "Access Your 1098 Tax Documents"
  2. Select "Want to look up your 1098-T or 1098-E tax form?"
  3. Select "I need my 1098-T tuition tax statement"
  4. Type "Ball State University" in the "School Name" field
  5. Type in your first name, last name, social security number, and zip code
  6. Click the "Continue" button

Yes. The tuition and fees portion is deemed as qualified tuition for the purposes of determining education tax credits. However, the program costs are not.

Typically, charges are posted to your student account in December for the Spring semester and in August for the Fall semester.  Box 1 of Form 1098-T reflects payments made during the calendar year for qualified tuition and related expenses and it is not based on when the classes were attended or billed to the student account. Your eBills will show the dates payments were posted to your account and are a valuable resource for determining the semesters that are included in your Form 1098-T.

It depends. Some May graduates will not be issued a Form 1098-T because there is a possibility that payments for QTRE for Spring were made on or before December 31 of the prior year. The Spring semester tuition charges were generally billed and posted in December of the prior year. If a student paid for the Spring semester and any other outstanding QTRE charges in the prior year, the student would not receive a Form 1098-T in the year of graduation. If a student made payments toward QTRE or were credited with financial aid during the current year, a form would be issued to the student.

Form 1098-T reports payments received from the student for qualified tuition and related expenses (Box 1) during the preceding calendar year.  When determining your eligibility for education related tax credits and deductions, you will need to report the amount you paid for qualified education and related expenses.  Therefore, your eBills will be the best and most accurate source of information for amounts paid for qualified education and related expenses. This is true regardless of whether you receive a Form 1098-T or not.

Ball State has partnered with ECSI Corporation to produce our Forms 1098-T, including the electronic option. ECSI's website is secure, and ECSI will not share your private information. 

Please visit the ECSI website and do the following:

  1. Select "Access Your 1098 Tax Documents"
  2. Select "Want to look up your 1098-T or 1098-E tax form?"
  3. Select "I need my 1098-T tuition tax statement"
  4. Type "Ball State University" in the "School Name" field
  5. Type in your first name, last name, social security number, and zip code
  6. Click the "Continue" button
The SSN and ITIN is information provided in the Form 1098-T file to the IRS. Failure to provide BSU with your SSN or ITIN could result in a $50 penalty to you from the IRS. The IRS Form W-9S is a request for the student's SSN or ITIN.

The IRS Form W-9S is a request for the student's SSN or ITIN. The SSN and ITIN is information provided in the Form 1098-T file to the IRS. If you are a U.S. resident for tax purposes, you may be eligible to claim a tax credit on your federal tax return if you paid qualified educational expenses to Ball State University. Form 1098-T must list the name, address, and taxpayer identification number (TIN) of each person enrolled by the institution.

Download The Request Form (PDF)

Complete the form and return to the Office of the Registrar by one of the following methods:

Mail the completed form to:

Office of the Registrar
2000 W. University Ave.
Muncie, IN 47306-0725

Deliver the completed form to:

Office of the Registrar
Lucina Hall, Room B-43

The Internal Revenue Code section 6723 penalty of $50 may apply to any individual who is required but fails to furnish his or her TIN to an institution upon request.

Please contact the Office of Registrar if you have any questions, and please be advised that the information you provide will be used to update our student database

If enrolled during the tax year and Ball State University does not have a U.S. TIN (Social Security number or individual tax identification number, whichever is applicable) for you:

Please complete Part I of the Form W-9S, Request for Student's Taxpayer Identification Number, with your:

  • name
  • address
  • TIN (even if you believe you have supplied this information in the past)
  • Ball State ID number

Then, sign and date Part II.

Write "Applied For" in the taxpayer identification number (TIN) field if you do not have a U.S. TIN and have either:

  • applied for one
  • intend to apply for one soon

A foreign national/nonresident alien student who has never applied for a U.S. TIN may check the appropriate box in Part III.