<p>Educational grants and scholarships are only taxable income to the extent they exceed qualified education costs (basically tuition, required fees, required books and supplies. Not all education expenses are qualified expenses, for instance room and board is not a qualified expense). So if your grants/scholarships were less than your qualified education expenses they are not taxable. If your grants/scholarships were more than your qualified expenses, then the amount that exceeded the expenses is taxable income. For instance if your grants were 6000 and your qualified expenses were $4000, then $2000 is taxable income.</p>
<p>For this purpose it is treated as earned income. Whether you have to file a return will depend on your total earned income and any unearned income.</p>