<p>S received an email a couple of days ago saying they received FAFSA and they will begin processing the application shortly and 'keep checking your status on the website'. Nothing has been posted on the website yet. Did anyone receive an offer yet?</p>
<p>For Freshmen or transfer? You won’t get any offer until you’re accepted.</p>
<p>S is an accepted freshman.</p>
<p>D received one scholarship offer 2-28-2011 and it is on her FA profile. In that letter (snail mail) it said awards would be issued from now until June with the majority coming by end of March.</p>
<p>Daughter is holding off making a college decision until possible scholarship is awarded from UT! She has been accepted many weeks ago, and at that time, they said it would take 2wks. to hear about merit aid–still nothing! Had to go ahead and sign up for freshman orientation with another college so that she would not loose a prime spot for fall scheduling. Really hoping that UT comes in with a nice scholarship, or the decision will be made for the other school . . .</p>
<p>College aid cut deeply in bills
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board says proposed budgets would reduce state financial aid programs by more than 40 percent. By Collin Eaton AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF</p>
<p>Updated: 11:14 p.m. Thursday, March 10, 2011</p>
<p>Published: 9:44 p.m. Thursday, March 10, 2011</p>
<p>When thousands of high school seniors receive their financial aid offers from the University of Texas and Texas A&M University in coming weeks, their packets won’t show a penny of aid from state-funded programs.</p>
<p>Some top-draw universities in Texas aren’t taking a chance on awarding state aid to incoming freshmen while the Legislature is still mulling deep cuts to state financial aid programs. There is just too much uncertainty about how much funding will be reduced for state financial aid programs and which students will get it, financial aid advisers say.</p>
<p>“We have been pulling our hair out over what to do,” said Thomas Melecki, director of UT’s student financial services office, who added that the House and Senate budget bills were constructed under the assumption that there would be no additional funding for new state financial aid awards, meaning the cuts will fall most heavily on new freshmen.</p>
<p>“It is vitally important to get financial aid packages out to prospective freshmen so they can decide if they can afford to come to UT,” he said. Financial aid for existing students would also be reduced, he said. “We think the worst thing we could do is send out financial aid awards in April and May, and then six or seven weeks before tuition bills are due, send them an e-mail telling them we don’t have the money to cover it.”</p>
<p>The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board estimates the legislative bills will reduce major state aid programs by $467 million - or 43 percent. The state programs made about 276,600 awards to students during the 2010-2011 biennium. The board forecasts that those programs will have money to award fewer than half as many grants in fiscal years 2012 and 2013 under the current bills.</p>
<p>At UT, 66 percent of the financial aid dollars given to last year’s freshman class and 31 percent given to undergraduates overall are at risk.</p>
<p>On Jan. 26, higher education Commissioner Raymund Paredes sent a letter to university financial aid offices advising them that if they offer state aid, it would be at their own risk.</p>
<p>Paredes said reductions in state financial aid programs could send the wrong message to the new cadre of students - most of whom are first-generation college students and minorities.</p>
<p>“We worry that we’ll be telling them that we don’t have any resources to help them go to college, and that’ll have a huge impact on these students,” he said in an interview. “I fear these students will tell their siblings, their neighbors and their friends that higher education isn’t for them, and that’ll have a ripple effect across the state and for an entire generation.”</p>
<p>A decade after the coordinating board began work on the Closing the Gaps by 2015 initiative, which promotes excellence in academics and access to college for minorities, they will have to tell Texas’ neediest students that they are out of money, he said.</p>
<p>Holly Whichard , director of school counseling for the Pflugerville school district, said, “It’s a really scary time for students and parents.”</p>
<p>Julia Petrus , a transitional counselor at Pflugerville High School, said college administrators haven’t told her how to approach the financial aid issue with students. But if students couldn’t afford to attend a university, Petrus said she would tell them to apply anyway and find out what other aid can be offered. Petrus said she is worried that students would have to rely more on loans.</p>
<p>“I’ve had parents who were leery of small loans, and my guess is we’re going to have a lot of people looking at that and try to find other routes,” she said. “At this point, all I can tell (students) is to apply for their (federal financial aid forms) and start applying for scholarships.”</p>
<p>If it turns out that there will be state funding later during the year, Texas A&M is prepared to repackage aid offers with the additional funds, said Delisa Falks, director of A&M’s financial aid office.</p>
<p>“But at this point, we cannot make the commitment because we have no idea right now if those programs are going to be funded,” Falks said.</p>
<p>Some state aid programs - such as the large TEXAS Grant - allow students to qualify for four years, making the absence of the grants for incoming freshmen a stinging loss, Falks said.</p>
<p>More than 900 students qualify for the $6,700 TEXAS grants at A&M in the fall, and about 2,100 students qualify for the merit-based $2,000 Top 10 Percent Scholarship, for Texas public students graduating in the top 10 percent of their classes.</p>
<p>“We’re looking at substantial cuts in the amount of funding that we can provide to help parents and students pay for education,” Falks said. “It’s a huge concern for financial aid administrators across the state of Texas. And with the economy, it’s not good news for parents to tell them that we’ll have less money to help them.”</p>
<p>Mark Kantrowitz , publisher of noted student aid advice website FinAid.org , said Texas’ financial aid troubles are part of a pattern common to every recession: State revenue goes down and higher education funding is cut, which often prompts tuition increases. So far UT and Texas A&M leaders have not indicated that they will raise tuition.</p>
<p>Students either take out more loans or drop out of college because of increased costs, he said.</p>
<p>“About half of the decline over the past few decades (across the country) in bachelor degree attainment is due to money,” he said. “This has a dramatic impact on college degree attainment for low and moderate income families.”</p>
<p><a href="mailto:ceaton@statesman.com">ceaton@statesman.com</a>; 445-385</p>
<p>My friend already got his, though most people including me haven’t.</p>
<p>I just checked my status online and I saw this:</p>
<p>'You were awarded aid for FALL 2011. A letter will be mailed. See CA$H- <a href=“http://finaid.utexas.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://finaid.utexas.edu</a> . Visit Financial Aid for more details. '</p>
<p>They don’t have it posted just yet but they said I received some</p>
<p>I think I may have also received my aid. I logged in to check today and i had a new notification that said something like ‘you have been awarded aid, just finish this’ and directed me to a link where I had to verify that I had no relation to any members of the board of regents. However, once I did that the page showed no change from how it previously stated they had not made a decision yet. Apparently the university website is down for maintanance so I’m crossing my fingers that my status will update as soon as that is over with.</p>
<p>Mine says the information not available. Even if I will not qualify for any financial aid, will I get a letter of some sort?</p>
<p>Yeah I had to do the same thing! i’m going to check periodically until I see it haha:)</p>
<p>My page says that my aid is still being processed but under My History I have a list of scholarships and loans for Fall 2011 that wasn’t there before =)</p>
<p>Ahh nevermind… It’s back to $0.00 on everything</p>
<p>I received my finanacial aid offer as well as a few scholarships this morning!</p>
<p>Nice! was it via mail or the online check?</p>
<p>Fall 2011
Award Awarded Amount
Federal Pell Grant* 2,775.00
Partial Tuition Grant 644.00
UT Freshman Grant 3,550.00
University Tuition Grant -Freshman only 506.00
Federal Perkins Loan 1,000.00
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan* 1,750.00
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan* 1,000.00
Federal Direct Parent Loan for Undergrad Students* 908.00
Award Total $ 12,133.00</p>
<p>Same for Spring Semester:)
I decided to post this because I know I was curious to see how much I might get as a Freshman. And I had an EFC of 0 (just in case anyone was wondering).</p>
<p>So total for both semesters I’d get; $14950 TOTAL in grants for Fall and Spring
and $9316 in loans. I’m waiting to hear on scholarships to see if I’d still need to take the loans or not, hope this helps anyone that was curious.</p>
<p>This is only informational. The TM guy is the UT Financial Aid head. He signs off on the scholarship letters. Wow !! …I hope they make the right decision for our sakes.</p>
<p>[The</a> Daily Texan](<a href=“http://www.dailytexanonline.com/]The”>http://www.dailytexanonline.com/)</p>
<p>NewsOpinionSportsLife & ArtsMultimediaSpecial EditionsDouble Coverage PDF IssueClassifiedsCouponsAdvertisingPhoto ReprintsContactThe Buys of TexasTuesday March 22, 2011
Financial aid services prepare for next years anticipated cuts
By Amy Thornton, Daily Texan Staff
Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The financial aid landscape is changing drastically as the U.S. Congress and Texas Legislature respond to calls for major cuts to government programs. Student Financial Services Director Tom Melecki addressed questions about the UT financial aid awards for the 2011-12 school year.</p>
<p>The Daily Texan: What changes are affecting financial aid for 2011?
Thomas Melecki: There are 12 federal and state programs that so far this year have provided over $100 million to UT students, and there is an estimated $36 million that could be lost. We either already know that those programs are going away or consider seven of those programs to be at risk, meaning that either Congress or the state Leg. may cut funding to those programs. Because of the way those programs are structured, the loss would fall more heavily on freshmen; we could have 71-percent less money for new freshman if were not careful.</p>
<p>DT: What federal programs are at risk?
TM: The Federal Pell Grant Program and supplemental grant program could be affected. The largest grant program used by UT students, the Pell Grant Program, provided $48 million to UT students and could be facing a reduction up to $13 million.</p>
<p>DT: What state programs are at risk?
TM: Under the budget bills that are currently pending in the Legislature, every one of the Texas financial aid programs is subject to a significant reduction in the amount of money the state would appropriate to it. Those include the Top-10 Percent Scholarship, the TEXAS Grant program, the B-On-Time Loan program and the Texas Work-Study program.</p>
<p>DT: What about new students?
TM: Were hoping to begin sending packages out for new students in the next few days because new students need to make enrollment commitments by May 1. The University Budget Council has authorized us to use some university funds to offer to new students in place of the state aid that we cannot offer them. Its only a limited amount of funding, but it does help cushion the blow for new students.</p>
<p>DT: What is the time frame for offers?
TM: Since the legislative session ends May 30 and the governor has until June 19 to issue line item vetoes, it could be as late as June 20-21 until the Coordinating Board can tell us what we have in terms of financial aid for this coming year. We hope to make the aid offers no later than July 1.</p>
<p>DT: Has the University encountered this before?
TM: This is the largest cut that any of us can remember, and its also the most uncertainty that weve had to deal with at this point in time. Typically, were already getting aid packages out for summer, fall and spring to both new and continuing students. Its important for currently enrolled students to understand that well have aid for them; the question is what type of aid will we have. We dont want someone to make plans for summer or fall/spring based on the notion that they get some type of grant and then have to go back and take the grant away from them and offer a loan in its place.</p>
<p>Got my package today… Nuffin new :\ just shows my tier 1 presidents scholarship (5k/yr) that i already knew i had, and ubsubsidized loans. My EFC was 18k so thats probably why theres no grants… Just hope all of the smart kids who are turning down UT for the Ivies result in some scholarshipa for me…</p>
<p>I received my financial aid package. I’m not trying to complain but. Wow. And not in a good way. I have a twin sister and we both had an EFC of 7203. Idk how that was even possible after my my mom only made 50,000 as her adjusted gross income and only 4500 in wages on the fafsa. She is also a single parent. As a family, as in my sister and I, we are only getting $10,000 in scholarships, and UT wants us to come up with my mom putting $30,000 in these Parent Loans for our Undergraduate education for this year alone! On top of my sister and I EACH putting $5500 each in loans, for just this year. So we each are supposed tot take out $20,000 in student loans to attend UT and it costs about $25,000 to attend. It is both of our dream university and I am SHOCKED by what I saw today after school when I logged on. I am not exactly sure what my family is going to do, because UT still expects us to pay out of pocket our actual efc which is 14,403 for this year, together.
I was wondering if anyone else had a shocking answer like mine!</p>
<p>I was only offered unsub loans 
Have been offered two scholarships from TAMU which is my only other IS public school. The site says UT will start scholarships in late March, so I’m keeping the faith that there may be something else coming. Economy is tough. I work and have saved $5K in the last year, and will work while I’m in school. Don’t want to end up in deep debt when I graduate.</p>