Simplelife, have you seen this thread.
The OP in that thread uses a CPA. The parents aren’t claiming the daughter as a dependent. The daughter is filing single but isn’t taking her exemption either. I’m not an expert in this but does it work out to your advantage even if neither of you takes the exemption? I don’t think a parent has to claim a dependent, it’s just that if they can but don’t, the student can’t take their exemption. But I’m not sure that’s all that’s involved. You could run that by a CPA.
And per the last couple posts in that thread, it doesn’t seem that necessarily avoids the kiddie tax if that’s a factor in your situation.
I’ll just add that I think this is one area of the tax code that is trying to be generous to families, allowing parents to claim students to age 23 as dependents. I think for over 99% of families this is advantageous. There is probably a small fraction of a percent where it may not be.