As a state school, UT doesn't give a whole lot of financial aid. Most of it is through government aid from the FAFSA. I was an in-state student, and my parents had saved money for me to go to college, so I didn't get any need-based aid. However, I did apply for the Engineering Honors Program, which got me a nice chunk of money for the rest of my time at UT, provided that I can maintain a 3.5 GPA (which is actually quite difficult in the Engineering school). There are a lot of merit-based scholarships offered through the University, it just requires a bit of digging.