Dean Einstein and Victoria Chen, Director of Scholarship & Financial Aid, answered questions about financial aid and scholarships in a live chat. Watch the entire video or check out key takeaways and time stamps below to answer your questions.
Don’t eliminate an institution based on the cost alone
A more expensive institution may offer more financial aid, providing a comparable
cost to other colleges. To calculate your net cost of college at TCU, use our net price calculator.
Fill out financial aid applications, even if you don’t think you’ll be eligible
TCU offered $53 million in academic and need-based scholarships in 2020. The university
received scholarship funding from a generous donor to award to families not typically
eligible for aid and we supported more families who completed financial aid applications,
though they didn’t initially receive need-based scholarship. Scholarships from internal
and external resources may have criteria identified through the application process
and sometimes things just happen (like a pandemic). You may go through unexpected
circumstances, and an aid application will allow our office to better evaluate your
situation.
TCU applicants are automatically considered for academic scholarship
There’s no extra application required for academic scholarships and admitted students receive their scholarship and admission letters in their online
portal. These scholarships are based on students’ academic credentials, including
a standardized Academic GPA using unweighted grades from core classes. We evaluate
each student individually and consider the curriculum they’ve chosen over four years
of high school as well as the school itself. For students who don’t submit test scores,
we value their high-quality work in difficult classes.
College is an investment in your future
It’s important to have a candid family conversation about what you can afford to pay
and are willing to pay for four years of college. Talk about what you can afford and
ways you can pay for college. Since college is such a large investment, it’s important
to discuss grade expectations with your student too.
- Why didn’t TCU give me a scholarship but other colleges did? - 10:58
- What types of aid are available and how can a student be considered? - 20:24
- Why should I apply for financial aid? My family’s income is too high. - 23:59
- Can you contest a financial aid decision? - 31:28
- What is the difference between subsidized, unsubsidized and CAL loans? - 40:12
- Can you receive financial aid or scholarship preference for an unfortunate situation? - 43:44
- Can I get merit scholarships without filling out the FAFSA or CSS Profile? - 44:50
- If a student is accepted to the Honors College, does it give them any financial opportunities such as scholarships? - 45:48
- When you get a TCU scholarship, does this include any FAFSA or CSS money? - 49:19
- What happens to scholarship offers for students who chose another university? - 52:07
- How do I accept my scholarship award? - 53:53
- Do you need to accept admission before you accept your scholarship? - 57:05
- When should I receive our financial aid package if I’ve been admitted? - 58:26
Resources
- TCU Scholarships & Financial Aid
- TCU Net Price Calculator
- Apply for Aid at TCU
- Fastweb: Searchable database for outside scholarships based on your information
- RaiseMe: Earn micro-scholarships for colleges