<p>You want to start taking loans every year for at least 3 years to make up for the $15000 you are missing. You need to plan ahead and start accumulating that missing money now. They’re not going to offer you $15000 in full, so you have to plan and take it out now. You don’t want to take out a loan from a private source because the interest rates are often high and the payment schedules can be overly demanding. Interest rates on Stafford loans are good, and you can pay off the interest over the years so that it doesn’t accumulate. So take the $5500 loan, and the $5500 that you would have paid out of your pocket now goes back into the college savings to be used for senior year.</p>