Lottery Scholarship Tips

Don't see your Tennessee Educational Lottery Scholarship (TELS) on your account? Read the following possible reasons, to determine what might be the problem and how to fix it:

Problem: You listed a school other than MTSU first on your FAFSA. The state therefore believes your funds will go to the other school.
Solution: Inform Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC) of which school you plan to attend. You may do so by submitting a Change of Institution Form or by visiting College Pays TN's Student Portal. (We recommend that you use the latter option, since it is processed by TSAC immediately; if you choose to send the paper form, please allow 2 weeks for processing.) If you have any questions you can contact TSAC by calling them at (800) 342-1663 or (615) 741-1346.
When to notify us: Please contact one of our lottery scholarship staff members after you notify TSAC that you plan to attend MTSU.

Problem: You are expecting to qualify for the lottery scholarship based on your GPA. Your high school may not have reported your final cumulative GPA to the state yet, or may have reported it so recently that the state has not notified us yet.
Solution: Check with your high school counselor to make sure that he or she intends to report your final cumulative GPA to TSAC, the state agency which administers the lottery scholarship.
When it will be fixed: Please contact one of our lottery scholarship staff members 2 weeks after your high school reports your GPA to TSAC.

Problem: You do not see any financial aid on your account yet, including the lottery scholarship or student loan offers.
Solutions:

• We may not have received your FAFSA yet; please file a FAFSA at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
• You may not have listed MTSU on your FAFSA; please add MTSU (003510) to your FAFSA at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
• Your FAFSA may have been selected for verification, and we may still be waiting for you to submit required verification documents. Please submit the required documents; you should have received an email via your MTSU email account with information about how to view the list of requirements.

When it will be fixed: You should receive an email regarding your financial aid package approximately 2-3 weeks after you file your FAFSA or submit your FAFSA to MTSU, if you have not been selected for verification. You should receive an email regarding your financial aid package approximately 3-4 weeks after you submit all required verification paperwork.

Problem: You are expecting to qualify for the Merit Supplement based on your ACT and GPA; you see your Hope Scholarship but not your Merit award. Your high school may not have reported your final cumulative GPA to the state yet, or may have reported it so recently that the state has not notified us yet.
Solution: Check with your high school counselor to make sure that he or she intends to report your final cumulative GPA to TSAC, the state agency which administers the lottery scholarship.
When it will be fixed: Please contact one of our lottery scholarship staff members 2 weeks after your high school reports your GPA to TSAC.

Problem: You are expecting to qualify for the Hope Access Grant based on your ACT and GPA. Your high school may not have reported your final cumulative GPA to the state yet, or may have reported it so recently that the state has not notified us yet. Access Grants must be applied manually by the lottery staff and are generally not applied until mid-July.
Solution: Check with your high school counselor to make sure that he or she intends to report your final cumulative GPA to TSAC, the state agency which administers the lottery scholarship.
When it will be fixed: Please contact one of our lottery scholarship staff members if you do not see your Hope Access Grant by July 20.



Are you an incoming transfer student? Visit our Transferring to MTSU webpage for instructions on how to transfer your scholarship to MTSU.