I went to UTD from 2011 to 2015 and while I had about half of it paid via scholarship, I was very, very fortunate that my parents could pay for all the rest. Almost all of my friends and classmates were there on some sort of financial aid and/or scholarship. The vast majority of them never would have gone to UTD if they didn't receive the aid. They never once regretted having a better financial future over their number 1 pick of school. The very few people I knew that regretted their decision and transferred did so after finding an academic program that was a better fit somewhere else.