On his podcast, Clark Howard answers real reader questions on money, credit, debt, retirement, travel, and more, along with co-host Christa DiBiase.

Clark's answer: For a junior in high school, moving that $6,300 into a 529 plan could still make sense. Even though Texas doesn't have a state income tax benefit, any earnings on that money over the next couple of years would grow completely tax-free. If you open one, you'll want to choose an enrollment-year portfolio, which will be very conservative at this stage — pretty similar to keeping it in that savings account.

Now, regarding the whole life insurance policy that you bought when your child was very young: Yes, you can borrow against its accumulated cash value. In almost all cases, you'll be able to borrow against that policy at a much better rate than a student loan in order to help fund part of his college costs.

That being said, based on the numbers you're talking about, it's going to have to be a very affordable college for these funds to make a real dent in the overall cost.