Texas Tech financial aid package delayed - Can I fix FAFSA retirement account reporting error?

my daughter got her texas tech package last week. took about 3 weeks after her fafsa was processed. they gave her presidential merit ($7500) plus some grants. pretty decent overall but still gonna need loans

Thanks for sharing! Do you mind me asking what her GPA/SAT was to get that Presidential Merit scholarship? And did you have to do anything special to get the package, or did it just show up in her portal?

You can absolutely correct your FAFSA! Log into studentaid.gov, go to your application, and select \

Wow, that's a huge difference! I'm going to make those corrections today. Do you know how long it takes for the corrections to process? I'm worried about delaying my aid package even more...

It took about 7-10 days for the corrections to process for us. Texas Tech was pretty good about adjusting the aid package quickly after the new SAI came in. Just make sure to email their financial aid office to let them know you've submitted corrections!

Texas Tech is SLOOOOOOOW with financial aid this year! My son still hasnt gotten his package ither and hes trying to decide between there and A&M by next week!! So stressful! Did you call them? We've been trying but cant get thru 😡

I've been dealing with the same issue trying to call TTU financial aid office. After literal hours of trying, I finally got through using this service called Claimyr. It holds your place in line and calls you back when it's your turn. Saved me from endless waiting and helped me actually get answers about my daughter's aid package. Just google Claimyr.com or check out their demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ\n\nWhen I finally spoke to them, they said aid packages are delayed because they're waiting on verification for many students and they're short-staffed. Hope that helps!

omg thank u so much!! going to try this right now cuz we NEED to know soon!!

Just so you know, Texas Tech prioritizes aid packages for students who complete all their requirements early. If you're still waiting, double check your TTU portal for any missing documents or verification requests. My daughter had a flag on her FAFSA that we didn't know about, and her package was held up until we resolved it.\n\nRegarding the retirement accounts - yes, definitely correct that! Retirement accounts are protected assets and shouldn't be included on the FAFSA. The correction process is straightforward but can take 1-2 weeks to process. Make sure to notify Texas Tech's financial aid office after you submit the correction.\n\nFor merit scholarships, my daughter received the Presidential Scholarship ($7,500/year) with a 3.9 GPA and 1340 SAT. There's also the Proven Achievers and Texas Tech Excellence scholarships if your stats are in that range.

This is incredibly helpful, thank you! I just checked my portal again and don't see any missing documents, but I'll call them to confirm. My stats are similar to your daughter's (3.85 GPA, 1320 SAT) so that gives me hope about potential merit aid. Did the Presidential Scholarship automatically show up in her package or did she have to apply separately?

The Presidential Scholarship was automatic based on her GPA/SAT - no separate application needed. They do have some departmental scholarships that require additional applications though. If your stats are similar, you should definitely be in the running for Presidential! Good luck!

also fyi my niece had this same thing happen with the retirement accounts. she fixed it and her SAI went down like 5k points!! totally worth fixing

Just wanted to caution - while you should definitely correct the retirement account error, understand there are verification checks in place. If your correction significantly changes your SAI, your application might get flagged for verification, which could delay processing further. Not trying to discourage you from fixing it, just be prepared to potentially provide documentation!\n\nAs for Texas Tech scholarships, they have a tiered system based on GPA and test scores. Here's what I know from my son's experience and friends:\n- Presidential: $7,500/year (typically 3.8+ GPA, 1300+ SAT)\n- Proven Achievers: $5,000/year (typically 3.5+ GPA, 1200+ SAT)\n- TTU Excellence: $3,000/year (typically 3.3+ GPA, 1100+ SAT)\n\nThey also have departmental scholarships if you're in a specific major. Have you checked which college your major falls under? Some have additional funds.

Thank you for the warning about verification - that's good to know. I'm planning to apply to the College of Business. Do you know if they offer additional scholarships? The tiered system is really helpful info!

Yes! The Rawls College of Business actually has some decent scholarships. My friend's daughter got an additional $2,500 scholarship just for being in the business school with a high GPA. Check their website for the

WAIT dont fix ur fafsa yet!!!! i did this exact thing (reported retirement) and when i tried to fix it they put me into verification hell!!!! took 2 MONTHS to get my aid after that. if ur already accepted and have an SAI just leave it unless the amount is HUGE. not worth the delay trust me

Oh no, that sounds awful! The retirement accounts we reported total about $180k, so it's a pretty significant amount. Do you think that's worth risking verification for? I'm so torn now.

omg yes for 180k definitely fix it!!! mine was only like 40k so maybe thats why it wasnt worth the hastle for me. but 180k will DEFINITELY change ur SAI by a lot!!

Update: I just got off the phone with Texas Tech financial aid office (finally!). They told me all remaining aid packages should be released by the end of next week. Apparently they had a new system implementation that's caused major delays this year. Just wanted to pass that along to everyone still waiting!

Thank you so much for the update! That's a huge relief to hear there's an end date in sight. Did they happen to mention if they'll extend the decision deadline for students still waiting on aid packages?

They said they're handling deadline extensions on a case-by-case basis, but are being pretty flexible given the delays. I'd recommend emailing admissions to request an extension if you need one!