If no longer going to school but paying back student loans, is it also considered tuition expenses paid?

No.  Paying for the student loan you received is not an education expense.

Paying back a loan is not tuition, any way you look at it. But if it's a qualified student loan you would have received a 1098-E reporting the interest you paid on that loan in the tax year. That interest is deductible on your tax return in the education section, *only* if you do not qualify to be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return.

Weather someone else actually claims you or not doesn't matter. The key word is *qualify*. If you *qualify* to be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return, then you can't even claim the interest.