A loan obtained by the student does count towards support. Scholarship does not.
Section 152(f)(5) prescribes a special treatment for scholarships with regard to the support tests. If the recipient is a fulltime student at a qualifying educational organization as defined in section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) and “a child of the taxpayer” (section 152(f)(5)(A)), any scholarship is excluded from the support tests. For this purpose, a child of the taxpayer is defined as a son, daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, eligible foster child, a legally adopted child or an individual placed with the taxpayer for adoption (section 152(f)(1))
