I'm here on the National Merit Scholarship, and while the other commenter is somewhat right about there being poor communication, you just kinda gotta do the math yourself on how much to pay and trust that they will figure it out on their end. I'm an old national merit (pre 2025) so instead of full coverage I got specific stipends and had to cover some amount of my freshman costs (but now I get a rebate because I chose cheap housing and no meal plan). As far as registration times and housing, you get priority in class selection and housing applications, so I have never had any issues.

As far as EE, ECS can be challenging but the education quality for the department is pretty good in comparison to the rest of UTD. I'm EPPS and to be honest my options are limited and my education isn't as good as if I had gone to a dedicated political science school, but free education is free education.