Johns Hopkins University
IRS Publication 970 says qualifying room-and-board expenses require the student to be enrolled at least half-time. It limits the amount to the greater of the school's room-and-board allowance in the relevant cost of attendance for the particular academic period and living arrangement, or the actual charge when the student lives in housing owned or operated by the school. Start with that student's enrollment, academic period, living arrangement and school allowance, then retain the actual expense records. Private rent is not automatically unlimited qualified spending merely because the tenant attends JHU. This guidance addresses the room-and-board limit rather than every 529 distribution or tax-coordination rule; it does not independently resolve a particular withdrawal, another education tax benefit or the household's return. Verify those remaining conditions before treating a distribution as tax-free.
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