My student loan lender paid off my old loan in a consolidation, so my 1098-e said around $18,000 in interest paid. Should I claim that?

Yes, you can enter your Form 1098-E into your return to claim the student loan interest even though the interest was paid through loan consolidation.

When your loans were consolidated, you were deemed to have paid off the loan to the lender who issued the Form 1098-E.  Be aware that there is a limit of $2500 for the student loan interest deduction, so you will not receive a tax benefit for the full amount that was reported on the 1098-E.

To go to the section of the tax return to enter your Form 1098-E, use these steps:

• On the top row of the TurboTax online screen, click on Search (or for CD/downloaded TurboTax locate the search box in the upper right corner) 
• This opens a box where you can type in “1098-E” (be sure to enter exactly as shown here) and click the magnifying glass (or for CD/downloaded TurboTax, click Find)
• The search results will give you an option to “Jump to 1098-E”
• Click on the blue “Jump to 1098-E” link and enter your information