@ndelbrueck
With the tax law change, effective 2018, most dependents will get the same refund whether they claim themselves or not (depending on the source of their income). The personal exemption has been eliminated and the standard deduction increased. However, you only qualify for an education credit or deduction, if you are not a dependent.
The big downside for 2020 is the $1800 stimulus/ rebate credit. Under the CARES Act, if he is claimed, or qualify to be claimed, as a dependent on someone else’s 2019 return he did not receive a stimulus check, in 2020. If he qualified as a dependent for 2019, but will not be for 2020, he will most likely get it in 2021, when you file a 2020 tax return.
Note that the requirement is not just whether he is actually claimed as a dependent, it's whether he qualifies to be claimed as a dependent.
