Can a parent who did not pay for any college expenses for the dependent, list 1098-T for education credit?

Yes, the person who claims the student can claim the credit even if they did not actually pay the expenses out of pocket them.  The rules state, that you, your dependent or a third party pays for the expense.  This basically means, it doesn't matter who pays, the person claiming the student claims the education credit. 

Who can claim an education credit?

There are additional rules for each credit, but you must meet all three of the following for both:

1. You, your dependent or a third party pays qualified education expenses for higher education.
2. An eligible student must be enrolled at an eligible educational institution.
3. The eligible student is yourself, your spouse or a dependent you list on your tax return.

Q. Can a parent who did not pay for any college expenses for the dependent, list 1098-T for education credit?

A. Yes. 

Although the general rule, in taxes, is that you must be the one making the payment, to get the deduction or credit, there is an exception for education. It doesn't matter who paid the tuition.  If the student is your dependent, you can claim the credit.  This may  be possible, even if the tuition was paid by scholarship. 

There is a tax “loop hole” available. The student reports all his scholarship, up to the amount needed to claim the American Opportunity Credit (AOC), as income on his return. That way, the parents  (or himself, if he is not a dependent) can claim the tuition credit on their return. They can do this because that much tuition was no longer paid by "tax free" scholarship.  You cannot do this if the school’s billing statement specifically shows the scholarships being applied to tuition or if the conditions of the grant are that it be used to pay for qualified expenses.

Using an example: Student has $10,000 in box 5 of the 1098-T and $8000 in box 1. At first glance he/she has $2000 of taxable income and nobody can claim the American opportunity credit. But if she reports $6000 as income on her return, the parents can claim $4000 of qualified expenses on their return.

Books and computers are also qualifying expenses for the AOC. So, extending the example, the student had another $1000 in expenses for those course materials, paid out of pocket, she would only need to report $5000 of taxable scholarship income, instead of $6000.