A school EIN is the nine-digit Employer Identification Number the IRS assigns to an educational institution, written in the format XX-XXXXXXX. The quickest way to find one is to look near the top of your Form 1098-T, where it appears as the “FILER’S employer identification no.” If you don’t have the form, call the school’s bursar or financial aid office and ask.
Where to Find a School’s EIN
Your Form 1098-T is the first place to check. Every school that issues one prints its EIN near the top, labeled as the filer’s employer identification number.1Internal Revenue Service. Form 1098-T Tuition Statement 2026 If the form hasn’t arrived, or you’ve misplaced it, the bursar or financial aid office can give you the number over the phone. They handle these requests all the time.
For tax-exempt schools, the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool returns the EIN when you enter the school’s name, along with access to its Form 990 filings.2Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search It’s free.
When You Actually Need It
Most people look up a school’s EIN at tax time, and the rule depends on which education credit you’re claiming.
American Opportunity Tax Credit
The American Opportunity Tax Credit requires the school’s EIN on Form 8863. The IRS instructions are explicit that you must provide it to claim the credit.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8863 Pull it from your 1098-T or ask the school.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 970 – Tax Benefits for Education Filing without the EIN risks having the credit denied, and claiming the AOTC when you’re not eligible can get you banned from claiming it in future years.
Lifetime Learning Credit
The Lifetime Learning Credit does not require the school’s EIN on Form 8863.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8863 Keep your 1098-T on file anyway. If the IRS questions the return later, you’ll want it.
Foreign Schools
If you’re attending an eligible foreign institution, the EIN question gets messier. Foreign schools may not have an EIN, and many don’t issue a Form 1098-T. Publication 970 says you can still qualify for the credit without the form if the school wasn’t required to furnish one, as long as you can show enrollment at an eligible institution and substantiate your tuition payments.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 970 – Tax Benefits for Education Keep enrollment letters, receipts, and any correspondence with the school. The IRS doesn’t spell out what to enter on Form 8863 when a foreign school has no EIN, so a tax professional is worth the cost in that situation.
Donations and Grants
If you’re donating to a school and plan to deduct the gift, use the school’s EIN to confirm its tax-exempt status through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search before claiming the deduction.2Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search Donation receipts from the school should include the EIN, but verifying it against the IRS database is worth doing for larger gifts.
Schools applying for federal grants must supply their EIN on the application, and the number is typically required before the application can be submitted at all.5Department of Homeland Security. Applying for an Employer Identification Number
Don’t Confuse the EIN With the Federal School Code
These two numbers get mixed up constantly. A Federal School Code is a six-digit number assigned by the Department of Education and used only on the FAFSA to route your financial aid application to specific schools.6Federal Student Aid. 2025-26 Federal School Code List of Participating Schools An EIN is a nine-digit number assigned by the IRS for tax purposes. They aren’t interchangeable. If a tax form asks for the school’s EIN, don’t enter the Federal School Code.
You Never Have to Pay for an EIN Lookup
Searching online for a school’s EIN turns up third-party sites offering to find one for a fee. The IRS is clear that you never have to pay for an EIN.7Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number Lookups for tax-exempt organizations are free through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search, and the number on your 1098-T costs nothing. Any site charging for the service is selling something you can do yourself in a few minutes.