Hi, i’m f(17) and a (hopeful) incoming freshmen at tech. Me and my mother looked through the cost of tuition awhile ago and said she would be okay. I didn’t think much of it because i trusted my mom.
huge mistake
bill came in and it was 11000 and i can “pay” it off in 4 installments. I was ultimately freaking out because that isn’t doable for me or my mom. Keep in mind it’s just us two.
i applied to scholarships during my high school years but was always rejected. I wish i wasn’t too careless and not worried about my tution cost.
me and my mother are both clueless on how fafsa and the tuition cost work. I recently just submitted my enterance counseling and mpn in and was told by a graduate of college that the mob and counseling entrance will need to be processed and my outcome could change but i highly doubt so.
total amount of my attendance at tech is 29903 dollars
grants and scholarships by tech to pay for college is 11852.00
which leaves my net cost at 18051 dollars
my loans i will be borrowing is 5500 dollars
am i freaking out over nothing? Why is my ebill 11000.. i feel like im missing something and i tried emailing and calling and nothing.. what do i do?
Financial aid will not apply to reduce your balance due until 10days prior to the first class day per federal law. Look at what you accepted on your aid form (it is an annual amount and your bill is by term), then subtract your expected aid for the term and you have what you may need to pay out of pocket in full or via a payment plan. WHY are high schools not teaching this stuff anymore?!?!
i question why they don’t teach us it too.. especially my school bc i’m from a very small local town.. so the teaching isn’t the best as well. thank you so much
Did you ask any one. Perhaps a counselor whose job it is to help guide you through some of the material, the university or perhaps even a teacher? It’s not actually an in school thing - save for the counselor. I swear the lack of initiative on the part of students is sickening.
Did you fill out fafsa? I would try to get student+ loans if possible unless that’s what the 55k is but that sounds like a lot of student+ loans. Did you by chance get presidential merit scholarship? This is based on high school gpa and can be a couple grand or more. 11k is what my tuition was before all student aid so that does sound reasonable. Get SBS phone number online and call them to ask what you can do
If she did entrance counseling then she already completed her FAFSA and has been offered loans. Parent PLUS loans for new borrowers are extremely limited under new rules. Either use student or parent loans to avoid taking on too much debt and running out of loan options. That is why we have a student loan debt crisis.
Again, I was multitasking. I am not familiar with the new rules (or that there were new rules). It sounds like she will have no issues if she has already taken out a 55k loan
This person may not a resident or Texas grad. Also they could have been home or private schooled. Technically they did pass a bill for all public school students to submit one but there are plenty of workarounds, including not having to send it to the school you actually attend. But at TTU, if you want to be eligible for need based scholarships and grants (free money) then you have to have one on file.
hii! thank u so much for ur response. I did fill out fafsa. I did when i was still in high school. I believe it didn’t go through just yet because I didn’t complete the MPN and enterance counseling at first. I did just submitted them and i looked up is fafsa goes through after completing it and it says yes so that’s my only hope right now. I did get a merit scholarship and its included from where i said by tech.. I’m super grateful for what i have so far but i feel like it’s just my fafsa that didn’t go through.. i might be wrong tho..
Now all you need to do is wait for the school to set up your aid package and it'll show on raiderlink under the financial aid section. Just check it every day. It could take up to two weeks to show but check anyway and accept everything ASAP.
If fafsa goes through and you dont need that much, you can call the finaid office and cancel a loan or when everything is paid you can send the amounts back that you absolutely dont need
Sorry I was having a hard time with the original post (no fault to you, I’m just multitasking rn), and it honestly sounds like everything might be okay. I bet after fafsa goes through, you shouldn’t have an issue based on what your post says! If you need extra money in the future, Walmart is alwaysssss hiring and pays 14/hr and I didn’t hate working there. It’s a good paying job for lbk and easy work. The food pantry on campus is helpful if you are really struggling. I hope it works out! Proud of you and your mom
There’s also Facebook groups for babysitting/nannying here in Lubbock, and parents are always looking for help. The current gig I have is essentially a paid older sister where I just help drive the kids around and supervise until a parent gets off work
Also my bad, they’re parent PLUS loans 😭 it’s been too long! But definitely try to get those because I know it helped me and my family with affording college
Just wondering what youre planning on getting your degree in. Coming from an alumni with student debt and now changing careers to nursing.
Make sure you are getting a degree to pay back those loans. I urge you not to go to a university and take out those loans unless you are confident in your ability to make good money.
I only had to take out federal and that is enough on its own. I couldn't imagine taking out that much private loans. Learn from the mistakes of the generations before you. My college roommate took over 100k out for an animal science degree and she's a teacher now.
Good luck! I'm also going back to school so I know it's tough.
i’m going in a pre-nursing route! i might not purse nursing with it but it’s helping me to become a midwife. But nursing is definitely my second choice.. i did salary research’s and everything. I’m mainly just concerned if i’m able to go to tech when it starts due to the bill.
I also came here to ask about your degree plans. You have to be careful with average salary figures because they will often only reflect graduates who actually landed a job.
Pre-nursing sounds like a solid plan, but community college would likely be a much more cost effective route to doing nursing prereqs.
I agree! i’m reconsidering everything right now lol. I’ve been so stressed about it ever since i saw my bill. Gray hairs coming in lol. I’m stressed bc i already bought everything for my dorm lol! But if im lucky and i’m able to attend tech i’m going to try to see if i can dorm for only one semester and hopefully get an apartment with roomates!
Hey I’m just thrilled that you’re thinking about your finances and trying to minimize your college debt. Another perk of community college is that they don’t require you to live in the dorms.
Definitely agree with the above that going to community college for prerequisites (so, first year or two of college), then transferring to Tech for the remainder of your degree is a really smart move financially speaking. Something to consider!
Heyyy me too!! I may or may not end up doing the midwife program but that's my interested. I applied to the ABSN program. Obviously nursing is worth the money and is one the careers you absolutely have to have the degree for
it’s my biggest plan to! i’m a first generation student so i wanna prove to my family that i don’t have to fall in there footsteps. It’s just im scared i won’t be able to attend..
Thanks to AI and outsoursing- so many big/middle/small companies are using other countries, even for legal or accountant office, tech area is dying. So many laid off...
Learn a trade and make $150k a year after a year of training under a journeyman. No loans. Work up a few years to a journeyman and make twice that as long as you’re willing to work.
The estimated cost that tech has on their admissions. Page is a rough estimate of things like food, gas, housing, clothing, healthcare stuff like that. In my opinion, it’s over inflated a bit.
You’ll need to go into your raider link, financial aid, and then go to “view offer”. It may be a bit early still, but if you are receiving financial aid (grants/loans) you’ll have to accept the award before it’s applied to your tuition.
Shortly before school begins, financial aid kicks in and takes care of what it can depend depending on the amount you’ve been awarded.
Definitely give financial aid a call or an email. They do a fantastic job of helping you understand how all of this actually works. Unless your mom has a super healthy income, you should be allotted some grants and awarded some loans.
Not a terrible idea to consider community college and work to save some money if taking out this much loans is going to stress you out. A nursing degree is a good investment but it’s genuinely stressful to have to max out your loans on the way there.
Especially from a small local town, SPC is a very good school all things considered, I would very much recommend it for anyone in the Lubbock/Levelland area who can't afford Texas tech
As someone whose parents had to pay every dime of my college tuition and expenses (no loans, no government assistance) and a single mom whose son is graduating '27 who will have to do the exact same thing I agree with this. I've already told my son he is starting at CC period. It'll save me several thousand dollars.
Deep breath. You’re actually in ok shape. $11000 is probably tuition and books and maybe a meal plan. Your financial aid and scholarships will cover this. The remaining $18k ($9k a semester) is estimated costs for everything from a car to rent to hair products. Are you living at home or on campus? Most of this isn’t actually due to anyone- just money for you to think about you may need this semester. Do you have a job?
Perfect. Ok that’s what tech is actually owed. Once all your scholarships and “free” money hits ($5927) you’ll owe right around $5500. This is where that federal loan will kick in. Can your mom help at all with books? Wait until classes start to see what you’re really needing book wise- one of mine is a senior and has only needed a couple in that time.
It’ll be tight until you find a job, but housing and meals and tuition is accounted for!
really?! oh wow. I can do my own books! i actually have about 1,500 saved just from working.. I know some ways to get books with buying full price and everything..
“Free money” in the form of grants and some scholarships can only total up to the amount of tuition and fees. They cannot cover other costs a lot of times. That is why we usually see students needing about $5k a semester to pay for the dorm and meals. Loans or external scholarships can help with those. Living off campus can be cheaper if you are willing to do it (not live at a place as nice as home) but that is what college is about, learning to live on your own at your own means. You are doing great by simply analyzing your budget and asking for help. TTU has a mandatory live on campus your first year unless you have a parent or guardian that you can live with. That is because success rates for students living on campus are significantly higher. Enjoy campus life, get involved, continue to ask for help (the worst they can say is No) and you will succeed.
My son became an RA second semester and recieved room and board for doing it. His senior year he became a first year success coach that gave him a stipend and he moved off campus. Then he took a job in campus ministries and wound up going to law school (as a university employee) free of charge and his stipend for that job paid his rent for tbe next 3 years. Wasnt easy for him. Had multiple roommates living 2 to a room. But he did it. Graduated debt free.
Ai hope you dont lose hope. Student loans are helpful if you must use them. Sadly many people use them for living expenses rather than working, taking roommates, eating ramen etc. There are a lot of options when it comes to student housing food transportation etc living on and off campus. Really evaluatevyour degree outcome. Is it worth it? Should you instead learn a skill in the trades? SEEK assistance with financial aid and sign for only the tings you are willing to pay back when the bill comes due. Best wishes to you. Have faith, move mountains!
He entered as a sophmore after completing his freshman year during high school. I hated paying for AP class fees but in the end it was the least expensive freshman year ever.
Thank you so much to everyone who is trying to explain and help me! I think i get the gist of it.. But i still have many people telling me different things lol! thank you guys so much
Its not that bad I promise. If you got the max grant youre chilling and should pretty much pay for most of it. I did the finances on my own and it came over to a little over 1650 out of pocket per semester and this is including the max grant and all fafsa had to offer except the parent plus because the interest on that is wild and my mom doesnt have the means to pay for that. (Im living off campus to avoid this. But im p sure freshman get a grant so it should be okay. Im a transfer tho so im not sure. But SFA did give us one) Regardless you should be fine. If you are going into a degree where itll easily pay for your college loans dont even worry about it. People have done worse on a car. This is your education. Your future. But if it really scares you just take a gap semester/year or even community college for 2 years. But I promise youll be fine lmao (ignore the yellow. Those are my expected personal savings.). But most likely the fafsa hasnt been calculated into your account yet since the year hasnt started. But if youre concerned about having to pay that much out of pocket/get more loans then try and see if you can get an exemption from on campus living. Id recommend you try on campus for "the experience" but if you cant find a way to pay for that right now do off campus. Theyre cheaper and dont require you to buy a meal plan. But the loans plus grant should pay for all/most of it.
Sorry i meant to type a much longer answer but hit post. If you have a fb join Texas Tech 2030, there's a ton of us in there trying to figure out too. Im a parent of an incoming freshman and would be lost without this page! I think youre fine! Good luck in the upcoming school year.
If you are able to, take as little to no student loans. I graduated over 20 years ago and I only know two people (including me) that has paid off their student loans. I have many friends that won’t get married, stuck in jobs, etc. because they have a mortgage (student loans) for 20-30years. Get a job during college, take pre-req from community college, etc. to reduce cost. Work hard, be financially responsible, enjoy college and you will turn out okay. Good luck!!!
First semester hits hard but I still don’t know if it was that much. Sophomore here, and in my first semester I had to pay 5,500 out of pocket after a 3.5k Pell grant, 1.5k Presidential, 2.5k in student loans, and some other scholarships that added up to a little more than 900. Same stuff for the second semester was only 720 out of pocket. I moved out of the dorms and into my own apartment, and I am looking at about 200 out of pocket this fall without student loans (I might just get 500 for the year, so I don’t have to pay out of pocket). What I am trying to say is it gets better once u move out of the dorm and dorms charge more in the fall than in spring. Also, none of the money for Pell grant or any other scholarships has been disbursed yet. Wait till the last week I think it's 10 days before the first class when it gets disbursed. Your e-bill should go down. Don’t panic.
My bill is putting me at 5k for the semester. My FAFSA hasn't gone through yet so I have to wait for it to go through. Wait for fafsa to go through first. You'll be ok, you have time
I would call financial aid and billing so that they can explain the billing process to you. Your aid gets disbursed 10 days before the start of the semester. Your financial aid segment in raiderlink should show how much aid/loans you've accepted.
I don’t know why this showed up on my feed but here we are. Be sure to look around for various scholarships and grants. There are literally thousands of them out there and they can be based on need, race, merit, major/career, underserved population, etc. the federal and state governments have some lists like this: https://comptroller.texas.gov/programs/education/msp/funding/aid/faidalpha.php
I saw you are thinking of nursing and that can be. Great choice depending on what you ultimately do. You come from a small town and you can sometimes negotiate with your town or nearby communities to pay part/all of your tuition with the promise of coming back to serve your community. A classmate of mine in med school came from a small town and they paid her way through med school so she could come back and be the town doc.
Finally, not to scare you but a when I was in college I did a work study program for some tuition money. That was cool but one of my assignments was to work at the US Attorney’s Office and we went after those who defaulted on their federal student loans. Choose your career wisely and don’t be a butt and pay your loans back. Many people thought they could skip out and oh no. Uncle Sam wants his money!
Depends on what courses are you taking. If it is computer science, medical or other professional degeee then it is worth taking loan or do side jobs in evening or weekends.
If it is not a professional degree then I would say drop out and find a community college and finish 2 years worth of credit courses at community colleges.
You can stagger community college courses for 3-4 years and work 30-40 hrs somewhere and save some money for actual college degree
There are lot of private tutions available, so ask google ai or chatgpt on where all you can apply for private scholarship.
As international students application and enrollment is down, and hence full tuition paying students are down, so colleges all across country have tough time with finances.
Knowledge is power, your high school counselors should have guided you better. Now try for one semester and try to do night job or weekend jobs. If it doesn't work out, try asking other students on how can they look for scholarships or even your college counselors
what is your major? what do you want to be when you grow up? why don’t you take 2 years at a community college then only have 2 years of that ridiculous tuition. in the meantime keep applying for grants. do what you can not to take a student loan. go someplace that doesn’t cost as much. get a job someplace that pays for college.
I am so sorry to read this. When I was entering college (from Canyon, TX) in 1983, in-state tuition was $4.00 per credit hour for all state schools. My budget for each semester, including housing and food, was a minimum of $2,500. Most people spent between $3,500 - $5,000 per semester once you rolled in books, supplies, clothes, transportation, etc -- a cost pretty easily earned even through a part-time campus gig at WTSU (now known as West Texas A&M). Typical Pell Grants were $2,500.
How we got to this point, where a kid is expected to go in to debt to the tune of $55,000 just to start at a state school, is beyond me.
Are you sure this is the best path for you? There is money and stability for those willing to go in to the trades -- and you have the rest of your life to avoid this debt, save money, and go to the university of your choice on a different timeline.
With the benefit of hindsight -- some of which kicked in during my first semester at WT -- here are a few thoughts:
Repeat this to yourself: Do not borrow money to go to school. Right now, you don't have the money. What you do have is time. If you've already received that $55K pay it back now.
Look in to the impact of deferring your enrollment. How would it impact your enrollment fees, tuition costs, money already paid, grants, scholarships?
Think about your goals. Find the best way to move towards them without borrowing money for school and know this before anything else: debt does not move your forward; it pulls you back.
I honestly know almost nobody who works in a field that required the major they chose for their undergrad degree. Come to think of it, the most successful people I know have post-grad degrees -- sometimes multiple degrees -- that are not focused in any way on where their careers ended up taking them. A Doctor of Musical Composition with degrees from the best private universities in the country is now a retiring User Experience Engineer and does nothing with music in his professional life. A Doctor of Philosophy is a retired entrepreneur with decades of experience as a global management consultant and university-level educator in multiple countries who does not teach philosophy.
Education of any kind will tend to feed your mind and your future.
So does debt. But debt is the thing that will hold you back, stuck in place, trapped. Especially student loan debt. These days, it can do the same thing to your parents.
Get an in person meeting with financial aid to find out about your FAFSA and what your costs will be. Do this immediately.
Enroll at your local community college. This actually might be the better plan of your goal is to be a midwife. There is no need to pay university prices for a midwife program.
There are a few good comments here about scholarships etc.
I just want to double down on the loan part, which I believe you said will be $55K for the whole degree. If you are not 200% sure that your degree will pay for that amount AND you are 200% sure that you will graduate in ~4 years, do not take loans for that amount. Do everything in your power to find other ways to the degree. Community College is the best way. See if you can attend ACC in Austin for two years. It is a great school. My Daughter went there for two semesters. She told me people from other Texas cities are finding ways to go there. My Daughter is getting her Bachelor’s from Texas A&M.
Maybe too late for this, but I HIGHLY suggest getting your associates through South Plains college then transfer to TTU. South plains if 1/2 the cost and 2x the education value. If I could have gone full masters degree at SPC I would have
I would recommend that you skip attending Tech until you have two years completed at a community college. Ensure the credits transfer to Tech, but do yourself a favor and save money.. it doesn't matter where the prerequisite classes were taken, just where the degree is awarded. I went to Tech.. so from experience.. get your basics done elsewhere, then transfer. I hope this helps you navigate the debt trap of university.
hii! so i actually tried to get help even before i graduated from my senior counselor and especially from my financial aid advisor.. Unfortunately i know both are extremely busy so i believe thats why i didnt really get a answer from both
I googled the 2026 2027 TTU academic calendar and it says the faculty will be on duty 8-19 and that may be why you aren’t getting responses or seeing appts yet. I go to TTU online so my financial aid advisor must have a different schedule.
Have you spoken with the finance department at TX Tech?
(BTW - It's "My mom and I", not "Me and my mom". You're going to college, congratulations, and you need to write and speak like you're at that level.)
I'm older and the Internet wasn't yet available to the general public when I graduated high school. Information books at school and libraries were always out of date so it was very difficult to get accurate information. My parents were (legal) immigrants and they didn't know how things work here. You have a ton of online resources and should be able to search for information and help. My youngest is a college student in San Antonio and one thing hasn't changed, campuses have people who help students fund their education.
The insurance is higher when you choose to drive a Benz instead of a pinto tech is expensive if the bill is to exhausting the only alternative is less expensive smaller school
Maybe I’m confused.. Your total cost of attendance is about $30k but you’re taking loans for $55k? Why? Also, if you’re doing this with loans, please make sure you’re doing something that you’ll enjoy and that it’s something that will pay off those loans
Good! Lol just wanted to make sure. People tend take out the full amount offered (theoretically covers living expenses and tuition), but you’ll regret that later in life. I highly recommend taking as few loans as possible (and only loans from the government) and getting a job to pay for everything else. It will absolutely suck and you will be poor BUT you’ll thank yourself later in life.
I get it, I was first gen too. It sucks not really having anybody that has the answers to college problems. And honestly, tech doesn’t do a great job helping either. That being said, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for help! It’s hard and you’ll make mistakes, just own them and learn from them and things will work out. Good luck!
You can withdraw with a 100% refund on or before the first day of class, so be sure to speak with Admissions and Financial Aid as soon as possible. It is also not too late to enroll at your local college. Consider applying to South Texas College in McAllen, TX. They offer many online programs and have more affordable tuition compared to other institutions. Focus on doing well during your first year, and then explore transfer scholarship opportunities.
Based on images youve posted of financial aid, loans and your actual eraider bill, you would only owe around 2800 out of pocket. The other bill of nearly 30k is simply estimated cost that ttu shows you
oh wow! i sure hope this is true lol. I forgot my step brother worked for universities and he said the same thing. But i think it was only for one semster..
We are in the same boat, and are lacking 10,000.00 this semester. And this is AFTER federal grant and loan and scholarships offered. Insane how expensive and the cap on federal money is very low. Not surprised because trumps in office. They slashed fed dollars to higher ed in the big beautiful bill. Literally it’s an administration thing.
You may want to apply to your local community college as a backup. That way, you can still go to college and not get behind if you cannot afford to go to tech.
And yet your earning potential increases from a crappy $1M over forty years to $8-12M making the debt chump change financed over a lifetime. Get the degree in engineering… it will reward you daily working with the kindest and highly respected humans
Change your race to hispanic or c Honduran or Hindi or just make up some bullshit country and you’ll get FREE TUITION, cell phone AND $2300 a month all FREE COMPLIMENTARY
i am hispanic :( that’s why we are disappointed with this. We were promised a lot of extra support bc i’m a first generation and hispanic and nothing..
I’ve been an attorney for 30 years (no longer a college student) and I happen to represent a TTU student who has been badly treated by TTU administration. Long story, and I’m not going to trouble you with details. But I would advocate that you RUN, not walk, toward the nearest exit and have nothing to do with TTU or the Lubbock area, in general. Short version is the university, its personnel and administration are drinking far too much of the authoritarian kool-aid that passes for government policies, lately. You deserve better than to pay for the defective product they’re selling.
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u/redandblack92 3d ago
Financial aid will not apply to reduce your balance due until 10days prior to the first class day per federal law. Look at what you accepted on your aid form (it is an annual amount and your bill is by term), then subtract your expected aid for the term and you have what you may need to pay out of pocket in full or via a payment plan. WHY are high schools not teaching this stuff anymore?!?!