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 (or TFD in your case) on their return. They can do this because that much tuition was no longer paid by "tax free" scholarship. In your case it's not even a loop hole, the scholarship was always taxable.
The IRS actually encourages use of this technique. From the form 1040 instructions: “You may be able to increase an education credit if the student chooses to include all or part of a Pell grant or certain other scholarships or fellowships in income. For more information, see Pub. 970, the instructions for Form 1040 and IRS.gov/EdCredit". PUB 970 even has examples of how to do the “loop hole”.
Your student is going to owe about $260 ($15,000 - 12,400 x 10%) on the additional income. Assuming you're in the 22% bracket, a $4000 deduction is worth $880; a $2000 deduction only $440.
