Hello, So i start at texas tech in the fall and looking at my fafsa my efc is zero and that’s means I should be receiving federal grants. I had my fafsa in by december but yet it still shows on my account that I would need to pay the full amount when other people who earn more than me have received grants. When I called, the financial aio office says grants won’t be distributed till july, but some of my friends have already received grants. Why is this happening?
p.s other schools i applied to gave me federal grants but Tech is saying it’s releasing in July? Thanks
Depends what you mean. You should very well know in advance what financial aid you will be getting, usually by about April or so. The actual funds have a limit on when they can be dispersed, i.e., when they can be paid out to your account. This is likely what you’re seeing.
I know this post is coming to you a little late to get a calming answer, but here’s what I suggest you do: Get on Raiderlink (https://raiderlink.ttu.edu), make sure you’re on the MyTech tab if you’re not already, and look for the link that says “Student Financial Aid & Scholarships”. Once you click that, a drop-down list should appear. Click the option that says “View/Accept Aid Package”. There, you should be able to see what financial aid you’ll be receiving for the next year for both fall and spring. The grants you’ll be getting will be listed there. If you see grants, then you’re good.
If your friends are at Tech, and if they say that they already received payment, then they’re either lying, or there’s a miscommunication between you and them about what you and they are looking at online. At other universities, they may have already “pre-applied” money that they will receive in the future, but technically they do not have access to that financial aid yet. In other words, their balance is showing them the net balance after expected financial aid is applied, but they will not have received ANY money yet.
If you see scholarships/grants on Raiderlink, then you should not worry about eBill showing a balance for you to pay. From what I remember, federal law prohibits ANY university from paying out any money until 10 days before the semester starts. It happens to everyone receiving any kind of financial aid. I went through this same thing several times myself. You will be fine since if you have financial aid on your record (barring any holds such as unsubmitted thank-you letters), it will get paid. eBill doesn’t display scholarship payments until the financial aid office actually applies them to your bill. The only time you need to worry is if the money is NOT paid out 10 days before the semester starts.
hey thanks so much for the info! yes so i checked my financial aid and it still wasn’t showing any grants even though I know for a fact I should have it because of my EFC of zero. Tech told me i should she it applied by the middle of july, but I’m still scared it won’t show on my financial aid page because every other school I applied to, it shows all these grants.
all it shows right now is the Pell Grant and i got the highest amount possible
Yeah, if you see the Pell Grant, it will get paid. Again, the federal government says that neither Texas Tech nor any university can give you that money until 10 days before the semester starts, which is the 18th of August (Friday). I wouldn’t sweat it too much.
Now, if you’re expecting any other kind of grants such as the TEXAS Grant and you don’t see that on your financial aid package, then it is likely you will not be getting that.
If you expect you should be getting it ([as defined here](http://www.depts.ttu.edu/financialaid/typesOfAid.php)), then the financial aid office is who you need to contact.
I’m not a financial aid officer, but I think I vaguely remember hearing something about how, if you start receiving too much financial aid, they’ll reduce your grants by any overages you incur. I think you have to go over the Cost of Attendance (COA) before that starts happening, but I’m not sure.
the thing is that texas tech has the “texas tech guarantee” and i qualify for everything on there and they give it to anyone who qualifies!!! So that’s why i’m wondering why i’m missing money