- 1). Check with the college or university to make sure it is an eligible school. You can use IRA funds to pay for higher education expenses only at eligible institutions according to the IRS.
- 2). Recognize qualified higher education expenses. You can only use penalty-free IRA withdrawals for qualified higher education expenses. All other expenses are subject to the 10 percent early penalty withdrawal. Qualified expenses include tuition, books, supplies and equipment.
- 3). Contact your IRA custodian. The IRA custodian is the bank or financial institution that holds your IRA. You need to contact your IRA custodian to request an IRA withdrawal.
- 4). Complete an IRA withdrawal request form. Once you get in contact with your IRA custodian, let the representative know that you would like to make an early withdrawal from your IRA to pay for higher education expenses.
- 5). Fill out the IRA withdrawal request form. You need to include how much you plan to withdrawal and the purpose of the withdrawal. Most of these forms have a box that you can check if you are making the withdrawal for higher education expenses.
Source...