Education calculators

Financial Aid Calculator

Updated Sep 3, 2026 By Jehan Wadia
Rate Formulas
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
~$28,000/year average
~$46,000/year average
~$62,000/year average
~$14,000/year average
~$18,000/year average
Estimated Student Aid Index (SAI)
$0
2026–27 formula
Parent Contribution
$0
From income & assets
Student Contribution
$0
From income & assets
Institutional Estimate (÷ students in college)
$0
1 student in college
Cost of Attendance
$0
Public — In-State
Estimated Financial Need
$0
COA − SAI
Estimated Federal Pell Grant
$0
Max $7,395
Estimated Total Aid Package
$0
Grants + work-study + subsidized loans
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 aid package with grants, work-study, and loans

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.

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. Older age shelters more assets from the formula. 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 money not in your AGI, like 401(k), 403(b), or IRA contributions.

Student's Untaxed Income: Add the student's untaxed money, such as child support or interest.

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 or farm you own. Leave out a family farm you live on.

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

School Type: Pick one of the five school types. Each one loads an average yearly 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

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. The most you can get is about $7,395 per year. You may qualify if your SAI is below that amount.
  • 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.
  • 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 and part of your assets, so not every dollar counts against you. 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. 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
P = 15{,}650 + (\max(1,\ n) - 1) \times 5{,}500
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
\text{IPA} = r \times P,\quad r \in \{1.75,\ 2.25,\ 2.20\};\qquad \text{EEA} = \min(0.35 \times \text{AGI},\ 4{,}700)
Asset Contribution (Discretionary Net Worth)
\text{DNW} = \max\!\left(0,\ \text{NW} - \text{APA}\right),\quad \text{APA} = \max(0,\ \text{age} - 25) \times \begin{cases}300 & \text{married}\\ 200 & \text{otherwise}\end{cases},\quad \text{Asset Contribution} = k \times \text{DNW}
Parent Contribution from Adjusted Available Income (AAI Schedule)
\text{AAI} = \text{AI} + 0.12 \times \text{DNW},\qquad \text{PC} = \begin{cases} -1{,}500 & \text{AAI} < -3{,}409\\ 0.22\,\text{AAI} & \text{AAI} \le 19{,}700\\ 4{,}334 + 0.25(\text{AAI} - 19{,}700) & \text{AAI} \le 24{,}700\\ 5{,}584 + 0.29(\text{AAI} - 24{,}700) & \text{AAI} \le 29{,}700\\ 7{,}034 + 0.34(\text{AAI} - 29{,}700) & \text{AAI} \le 34{,}700\\ 8{,}734 + 0.40(\text{AAI} - 34{,}700) & \text{AAI} \le 38{,}700\\ 10{,}334 + 0.47(\text{AAI} - 38{,}700) & \text{AAI} > 38{,}700 \end{cases}
Student Aid Index (Dependent Student)
\text{SAI} = \max\!\left(-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} + 11{,}600)
Estimated Financial Need
\text{Need} = \text{COA} - \text{SAI}
Estimated Federal Pell Grant
\text{Pell} = \min\!\left(7{,}395 - \max(0,\ \text{SAI}),\ \text{COA},\ \max(0,\ \text{Need})\right),\quad \text{Pell} = 0 \text{ if } \text{Pell} < 740

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.

  • Pell Grants usually stop around $60,000–$100,000 in family income, depending on household size.
  • 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 full Pell Grant.
  • $1 to $7,395: you still get part of a Pell Grant.
  • $7,396 to $25,000: no Pell, but you may 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. $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 $11,600 a year before earnings start to raise the SAI. That is the student income protection allowance for 2026–27.

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. 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 gave the most financial support in the past 12 months. 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 does get listed as untaxed income.

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:

  • Under 175% of poverty for a dependent student with married parents.
  • Under 225% of poverty for a single-parent household.

If your SAI is between $1 and $7,395, you get a partial Pell Grant. Awards under $740 are not paid out.

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

The FAFSA opens October 1 each year for the next school year. The federal deadline is June 30 at the end of that school year.

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. A dependent student can borrow $31,000 total across all undergrad years.

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 PLUS loan to cover the rest of the cost.

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.
  • Family farms and small businesses are now reported as assets.
  • 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.

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