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Tennessee Tech will offer a scholarship to students impacted by last year’s FAFSFA delays.
Associate Vice President for Enrollment and Student Success Mary McCaskey said the university reopened the Presidential Scholars Scholarship application period with a new deadline of June 1. McCaskey said the scholarship will award anywhere from $1,800 to $8,000 per student.
“Given the essential, I guess role that financial aid plays in a student’s ability to enroll and succeed in college we just wanted to make sure we provided additional support and flexibility through a secondary deadline.”
Changes to the FAFSA formatics caused major delays for parents and students last year. Local counselors said long-term the changes will benefit everyone. McCaskey said the scholarship is only offered to new incoming Freshmen for the 2025-2026 academic year. McCaskey said students who meet all of the requirements will receive a scholarship.
“As long as they apply now and get everything by June 1st if they meet the eligibility requirements the GPA, the ACT, the standardized test scores if they meet those requirements we are guaranteeing those scholarships for them,” McCaskey said.
McCaskey said over 80 percent of students at Tennessee Tech are on some form of financial assistance. McCaskey said when FAFSA is delayed it can be a tough time for students and their families.
“I think it has been stressful because it has been a lot of uncertainty for our students,” McCaskey said. “For those families that are trying to make financial decisions, you know maybe they have more than one student in college and you know this is just the financial support is incredibly important.”
McCaskey said as long as students maintain a 3.0 GPA and take 12 hours they can receive the scholarship for up to four years. McCaskey said FAFSA is still tweaking the application process which is believed to be the reason for the delays. McCaskey said the FAFSFA application time period begins October 1st every year and she encourages families to fill out the application as soon as it opens.
