Education calculators

Financial Aid Calculator

Updated Oct 8, 2026 By Infinity Calculator
Rate Formulas Sources
Family & Household Information
Income (2026–27 Award Year)
Range: $0 – $500,000
Range: $0 – $100,000
Range: $0 – $100,000
Range: $0 – $50,000
Assets
Range: $0 – $1,000,000
Range: $0 – $1,000,000
Range: $0 – $100,000
School & Cost of Attendance
$30,990/year average (2025–26)
$50,920/year average (2025–26)
$65,470/year average (2025–26)
$21,320/year average (2025–26)
Estimated Student Aid Index (SAI)
$0
2026–27 formula
Parent Contribution
$0
From income & assets
Student Contribution
$0
From income & assets
Cost of Attendance
$0
Public — In-State
Estimated Financial Need
$0
COA − SAI (SAI below 0 counts as 0)
Estimated Federal Pell Grant
$0
Max $7,395
Estimated Total Aid Package
$0
Federal Pell Grant + subsidized loan
SAI Context Meter
$0
Estimated Aid Package Breakdown
Text equivalent of the aid breakdown chart: each component of the yearly cost of attendance in dollars and percent.
Component Amount % of COA
What If? Sensitivity Scenarios
Step-by-Step Solution
Input Summary (read-only)

Introduction

College costs a lot. This free financial aid calculator estimates how much your family will pay and how much aid you may get. It uses the 2026–27 federal formula to work out your Student Aid Index (SAI), the number colleges use to hand out need-based aid.

Fill in a few facts about your family, your income, your savings, and the school you have in mind. The tool then shows you:

  • Your estimated SAI
  • How much comes from parent income and student income
  • Your school's cost of attendance
  • Your financial need (cost minus SAI)
  • A possible Federal Pell Grant amount
  • An estimated federal aid package: your Pell Grant and subsidized loan, and the need left for school, state and other aid

You also get a step-by-step math breakdown and "what if" cases, so you can see how a raise, a savings account, or one more family member changes your aid. These are estimates, not real offers. Each college makes the final call. Still, rough numbers early on help you pick schools you can afford and plan how to pay for them.

How to use our Financial Aid Calculator

Enter your family size, income, assets, and school cost. The financial aid calculator then shows your estimated Student Aid Index (SAI), your financial need, your possible Pell Grant, and a full aid package estimate.

Parent/Guardian Marital Status: Pick the status that fits your family. This sets whether a spouse's money counts and which income protection allowance is used.

Student Dependency Status: Choose "Dependent" if the student must report parent info on the FAFSA. Choose "Independent" to use only the student's own money.

People in Household: Count yourself, your spouse, your children, and anyone else you support.

State of Legal Residence: Pick Alaska or Hawaii if you live there. Those two states have their own, higher poverty guidelines.7 The Pell Grant income tests use the guideline for your state.

College Students in Household: Count the student you are planning for, plus any others in college. Many schools use this in their own aid math.

Age of Older Parent: Enter the age of the older parent. For 2026–27 the asset protection allowance is $0 at every age, so age does not change the result.1 For independent students, enter the student's age.

We file taxes separately: Check this box if you and your spouse file separate tax returns. A spouse income box will appear.

Parent(s) Annual Adjusted Gross Income (AGI): Enter the AGI from line 11 of IRS Form 1040. Use the joint total if you file together.

Spouse's Annual AGI: Enter your spouse's AGI. This box only shows if you file separately.

Student's Annual AGI: Enter the student's AGI from their tax return. Use $0 if the student did not work.

Parent(s) Untaxed Income & Benefits: Add deductible IRA or Keogh payments, tax-exempt interest, and the untaxed parts of IRA distributions and pensions. These are the untaxed items the SAI formula adds back to income.1

Student's Untaxed Income: Add the student's untaxed money, such as tax-exempt interest or the untaxed part of an IRA distribution.

Parent(s) Net Worth of Investments: Enter savings, stocks, bonds, funds, and extra real estate, minus debt. Do not count your main home or retirement accounts.

Parent(s) Business or Farm Net Worth: Enter the net value of a business with more than 100 full-time (or full-time equivalent) employees, or of a farm you do not live on. For 2026–27, a family business with 100 or fewer full-time employees and a farm the family lives on are left out.8 What you do enter is counted on a sliding scale that starts at 40% of the first $175,000 of net worth.1

Student's Total Assets: Enter the student's cash, checking, savings, and investments. Skip cars and retirement accounts.

School Type: Pick one of the four school types. In 2025–26, average student budgets were $30,990 at public four-year colleges for in-state students, $50,920 for out-of-state students, $65,470 at private nonprofit four-year colleges and $21,320 at public two-year colleges.4 The four options use these figures. For a trade school or any other school, tick the box to enter its own cost of attendance.

Enter a specific Cost of Attendance: Check this box to type the real yearly cost from your school's aid page. Include tuition, fees, housing, food, books, and travel.

Calculate: Press this to see your results, a step-by-step solution, and "what if" scenarios. Press Start Over to reset every field.

Understanding Financial Aid and the Student Aid Index (SAI)

College financial aid is money that helps you pay for school. It can come from the federal government, your state, or the college itself. To get most of this money, you fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). The FAFSA looks at your family's income, savings, and household size. Then it gives you a number called the Student Aid Index (SAI).

What the SAI Means

The SAI is not a bill. It is a score that colleges use to decide how much aid you need. A lower SAI means you need more help. The SAI can go as low as -$1,500, which shows the highest level of need. The SAI replaced the old Expected Family Contribution (EFC) starting with the 2024–25 school year.

Cost of Attendance and Financial Need

Every college lists a Cost of Attendance (COA). This is the full price for one year: tuition, fees, housing, food, books, travel, and personal costs. Your financial need is found with simple math:

Cost of Attendance − Student Aid Index = Financial Need

When packaging need-based aid, schools must convert a negative SAI to zero, so need is never more than the cost of attendance.3

Colleges try to cover that need with grants, scholarships, work-study jobs, and loans. Most schools do not cover all of it. The part left over is called unmet need, and families pay that out of pocket or with extra loans.

Types of Aid You Might Get

  • Federal Pell Grant is free money you do not pay back. For 2026–27 the maximum award is $7,395 and the minimum is $740.2 Families with low incomes can qualify for the maximum through poverty-guideline tests.1
  • Grants and scholarships are free money from the college, your state, or private groups.
  • Federal Work-Study is a part-time job on or near campus.
  • Subsidized loans are loans where the government pays the interest while you are in school. First-year students can borrow up to $3,500.5
  • Unsubsidized loans build interest right away. These are open to almost everyone.

What Affects Your Aid the Most

Income matters more than savings. The formula protects part of your income with allowances for taxes, living costs and work expenses, and for 2026–27 it no longer shelters any parent assets.1 Retirement accounts like a 401(k) or IRA are not reported as assets, and neither is the home you live in. Bigger households get more protected income, which usually lowers the SAI.

Dependent vs. Independent Students

Most students right out of high school are dependent. They must report parent income and assets, even if their parents will not help pay. You may be independent if you are 24 or older, married, a veteran, a graduate student, or care for your own children. Independent students only report their own money and a spouse's money.

Important Things to Know

The FAFSA uses tax info from two years before the school year, so the 2026–27 FAFSA uses 2024 taxes.1 File the FAFSA as early as you can, because some aid runs out. Every college also sends a real financial aid offer, and each school can give different amounts. Use this estimate to plan and compare, then check each college's own Net Price Calculator for a closer number.

Formulas used

Poverty Guideline for Household Size 7
P = \text{15,060} + (\max(1,\ n) - 1) \times \text{5,380}
Available Income (AI)
\text{AI} = (\text{AGI} + \text{Untaxed Income}) - \underbrace{(T_{\text{fed}} + T_{\text{FICA}} + \text{IPA} + \text{EEA})}_{\text{Total Allowances}}
Income Protection Allowance and Employment Expense Allowance 1
\text{IPA} = \text{2026–27 table value (parents of a family of 3: } \text{36,330}\text{)};\qquad \text{EEA} = \min(35\% \times \text{earnings},\ \text{5,000})
Asset Contribution (Discretionary Net Worth) 1
\text{DNW} = \max\!\left(0,\ \text{NW} - \text{APA}\right),\quad \text{APA} = 0,\quad \text{Asset Contribution} = k \times \text{DNW},\ k \in \{0.12,\ 0.20,\ 0.07\}
Parent Contribution from Adjusted Available Income (AAI Schedule) 1
\text{AAI} = \text{AI} + 0.12 \times \text{DNW},\qquad \text{PC} = \begin{cases} -\text{1,870} & \text{AAI} < -\text{8,500}\\ 22\%\,\text{AAI} & \text{AAI} \le \text{21,800}\\ \text{4,796} + 25\%\,(\text{AAI} - \text{21,800}) & \text{AAI} \le \text{27,300}\\ \text{6,171} + 29\%\,(\text{AAI} - \text{27,300}) & \text{AAI} \le \text{32,800}\\ \text{7,766} + 34\%\,(\text{AAI} - \text{32,800}) & \text{AAI} \le \text{38,400}\\ \text{9,670} + 40\%\,(\text{AAI} - \text{38,400}) & \text{AAI} \le \text{43,900}\\ \text{11,870} + 47\%\,(\text{AAI} - \text{43,900}) & \text{AAI} > \text{43,900} \end{cases}
Student Aid Index (Dependent Student) 1
\text{SAI} = \max\!\left(-\text{1,500},\ \text{PC} + 0.50 \times \max(0,\ \text{AI}_{s}) + 0.20 \times A_{s}\right),\quad \text{AI}_{s} = (\text{AGI}_{s} + U_{s}) - (T_{\text{fed},s} + T_{\text{FICA},s} + \text{11,770} + \text{Negative PAAI})
Estimated Financial Need 3
\text{Need} = \max\!\left(0,\ \text{COA} - \max(0,\ \text{SAI})\right)
Estimated Federal Pell Grant 2
\text{Pell} = \begin{cases} \text{7,395} & \text{maximum-Pell income test met} \\ \text{7,395} - \text{SAI (a negative SAI counts as zero)} & \text{if that is at least } \text{740} \\ \text{740} & \text{minimum-Pell income test met and SAI} < \text{14,790} \\ \text{none} & \text{otherwise} \end{cases}

Frequently asked questions

What income is too high to qualify for financial aid?

There is no income cutoff. Aid depends on your income, your family size, your assets, and the school's price.

  • The minimum Pell Grant can go to a dependent student whose parents' AGI is within 275% of the poverty guideline, or 325% for a single parent.1
  • Need-based aid from a college can still show up at incomes of $150,000 or more if the school costs $70,000+ a year.
  • Unsubsidized federal loans are open to almost every student, at any income.

File the FAFSA even if you think you earn too much. Many colleges require it before they give out their own grants or merit money.

What is a good SAI number?

Lower is better. A low SAI means you get more need-based aid.

  • -$1,500 to $0: highest need. You get the maximum Pell Grant.1
  • Above zero: the Pell Grant is $7,395 minus your SAI, as long as that is at least $740, and an SAI of $14,790 or more rules out a Pell Grant.2
  • Up to $25,000: you may still get college grants at pricey schools.
  • Over $25,000: need-based aid is limited. Merit scholarships matter more.

There is no pass or fail score. A $20,000 SAI leaves big need at a $70,000 school and no need at a $14,000 community college.

Does having two kids in college still lower your SAI?

Not for federal aid. The old EFC was split by the number of kids in college. The SAI formula dropped that split starting in 2024–25, so each child gets the same SAI.

You still list every college student on the FAFSA. Many private colleges use that number in their own aid formula, so it can still help with school grants. Ask each aid office how they treat siblings in college.

Do student savings hurt financial aid more than parent savings?

Yes, a lot more.

  • Student assets are counted at 20%, with no protection.1 $10,000 in the student's name raises the SAI by $2,000.
  • Parent assets are counted at 12% and then run through the rest of the formula, so the real hit is about 5.6 cents on the dollar at most. The same $10,000 raises the SAI by roughly $560 or less.

Money saved for college is usually better held in a parent's name than in the student's own bank account.

How much can a student earn before it lowers their financial aid?

A dependent student can earn about $11,770 a year before earnings start to raise the SAI. That is the student income protection allowance for 2026–27.1

Taxes the student pays are also subtracted. Above that line, 50 cents of every extra dollar gets added to the SAI. So a summer job of $6,000 usually costs nothing in aid, but $20,000 in wages can raise the SAI by thousands.

Do 529 plans count as an asset on the FAFSA?

It depends on who owns the account.

  • Parent-owned 529: reported as a parent asset. Counted lightly, about 5.6 cents per dollar. This includes 529s for younger siblings.
  • Student-owned 529 (dependent student): also reported as a parent asset, not at the 20% student rate.
  • Grandparent- or aunt-owned 529: not reported at all. If the student is the beneficiary but not the owner of the account, the value is not reported as a student asset.8 Money paid out from it no longer counts as student income either.

Retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs are never reported.

Which parent fills out the FAFSA if parents are divorced?

The parent who provided more than 50% of the student's financial support during the last 12 months, which may not be the parent the student lived with. If neither parent did, the parent with the greater income and assets reports.8 That rule replaced the old "who the student lived with" rule.

If that parent has remarried, the stepparent's income and assets must be reported too. The other parent's money is not reported at all, even if they pay child support. Child support received is reported as an asset.1

Colleges that use the CSS Profile often ask for both parents' info anyway.

Who gets the maximum Pell Grant?

You get the full $7,395 if your SAI is $0 or below. You can also get the maximum automatically if your family income falls under a set share of the federal poverty line for your household size:

  • At or below 175% of the poverty guideline for families that are not single-parent households.
  • At or below 225% of the poverty guideline for a single parent.

Parents who did not file a federal tax return also qualify.1

Otherwise the award is $7,395 minus your SAI, and if that comes to less than $740 there is no SAI-based award.2

When can I file the FAFSA and what is the deadline?

The FAFSA opens October 1 each year for the next school year. For the 2026-2027 award year, the deadline for the Department's FAFSA Processing System to receive a FAFSA form is June 30, 2027.9

Do not wait for the federal deadline. State grant deadlines can be as early as December or February, and some colleges give out their own aid first come, first served. Filing in the fall gives you the best shot at every dollar.

Can I get more aid if my income dropped after I filed the FAFSA?

Yes. Ask the college's financial aid office for a professional judgment review, also called a special circumstances appeal.

Good reasons include a job loss, lower pay, divorce, a death in the family, or big medical bills. Send a short letter plus proof, like a layoff notice or medical bills. The aid officer can swap in your current income and redo your SAI. Each school decides on its own, so ask every college you applied to.

How much can a college freshman borrow in federal student loans?

A dependent freshman can borrow $5,500, and no more than $3,500 of that can be subsidized.5 A dependent student can borrow $31,000 total across all undergrad years.5

An independent freshman can borrow $9,500, with the same $3,500 subsidized cap. Limits go up in later years. Parents can also apply for a Parent PLUS loan. On or after July 1, 2026, it is limited to $20,000 a year and $65,000 in total per dependent undergraduate, unless the student qualifies for an interim exception.6

What is the difference between the SAI and the old EFC?

The SAI replaced the EFC in 2024–25. Key changes:

  • The SAI can go as low as -$1,500. The EFC stopped at $0.
  • The SAI is not divided by the number of kids in college. The EFC was.
  • Business and farm rules changed: for 2026–27, a family business with 100 or fewer full-time employees and a farm the family lives on are not reported as assets.8
  • Income protection allowances are larger, which helps lower-income families.

Both numbers do the same job: schools subtract it from the cost of attendance to find your need.

Sources

  1. 2026–27 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide. U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. 2025;Version 1.1; Formula A-C and Tables A2-A5, B3, C2-C6. Accessed September 29, 2026.
  2. 2026–27 Federal Pell Grant Maximum and Minimum Award Amounts. U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. 2026;Dear Colleague Letter. Accessed September 29, 2026.
  3. Packaging Aid. 2026-2027 Federal Student Aid Handbook. U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. Vol. 3, Ch. 3, Treatment of Negative SAIs. Accessed September 29, 2026.
  4. Ma J, Pender M, Hu X. Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2025. College Board. 2025;Student Budgets, 2025-26 (Figure CP-1). Accessed September 29, 2026.
  5. Annual and Aggregate Loan Limits. 2025-2026 Federal Student Aid Handbook. U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. Vol. 8, Ch. 4. Accessed September 29, 2026.
  6. Frequently Asked Questions – Loan Limits. U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. 2026;Parent PLUS Loan Limit, pp. 17-18. Accessed September 29, 2026.
  7. Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines. Federal Register. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2024;2024 Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia. Accessed September 29, 2026.
  8. Filling Out the FAFSA Form. 2026-2027 Federal Student Aid Handbook. U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. Application and Verification Guide, Ch. 2 (Contributors; Student Assets). Accessed September 29, 2026.
  9. 2026-2027 Award Year Deadline Dates for Reports and Other Records Associated With the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Form. Federal Register. U.S. Department of Education. 2026. Accessed October 7, 2026.

Related Education calculators

All Education calculators
Education

ASU Tuition Calculator

Estimate ASU tuition by residency, campus, college and credit load. Adds program differential tuition, Barrett fee and QTR discount per term.

Open Education

FAFSA Calculator

Estimate your 2026-2027 SAI from parent and student income, assets, and household size. View Pell Grant eligibility, contribution breakdown, and formula.

Open Education

Net Price Calculator

Estimate college net price from SAI or detailed financials. Breaks down Pell Grant, the school and state grants you enter, and Post-9/11 GI Bill with step-by-step math.

Open Education

SAI Calculator

Estimate your Student Aid Index from parent and student income, assets, and household size. Includes a Pell Grant check and a what-if slider.

Open