College Planning About two minutes 2026-27 and 2027-28 formulas No sign-up required

Your exact Student Aid Index from your tax return

The federal formula that decides your Pell Grant, subsidized loans, and most institutional aid. See your number before you file.

SAI Calculator · 2026-27 and 2027-28

Your Student Aid Index from your tax return

A few questions, with numbers from the tax return the FAFSA reads. You get your estimated Student Aid Index, Pell Grant and aid stack.

Pell
State
Work-Study
Loans

Uses the official federal formula for your start date
No name, email or phone number
Every figure links to its government source

Official federal formula · No name, email or phone · Every figure sourced

1 of 3 · You and schoolQuestion 1 of 9

What education have you completed?

Why we ask: Pell is for students without a bachelor’s degree, and your federal loan limit depends on your year in school.

A planning estimate, not a FAFSA or an aid application. Comparing schools afterwards is optional.

Review the methodology behind this result

Results are shown before email capture or partner handoff. The estimate uses source-backed rules and public data so you can evaluate the result before taking the next step.

Full calculator methodology See formula sources, assumptions, limitations, and update cadence. Editorial standards Review how we source, fact-check, and disclose partner relationships.

How the SAI Calculator works

This calculator uses the Student Aid Index (SAI) formula from the FAFSA Simplification Act to estimate your federal aid for the award year your start date falls in: 2026-27, or 2027-28 if you start on or after July 1, 2027.

The SAI replaced the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) starting in 2024-25. Many families and older guides still use the old EFC name: same idea, different label.

The practical question is not “what will college cost?” It is: what does the federal formula say about your aid eligibility, and what should you do next with that number?

What the SAI formula considers

The federal need analysis formula evaluates three main components:

Income. Adjusted gross income from the tax year the FAFSA reads (2024 for 2026-27, 2025 for 2027-28), minus income tax paid, payroll taxes, an Income Protection Allowance and an employment expense allowance
Assets. Cash, savings, investments and real estate other than your home (retirement accounts are left out). Parents’ net worth adds 12% to their available income; an independent student’s counts at 20%, or 7% with dependents. The asset protection allowance is $0 at every age
Family size. Larger households receive a higher Income Protection Allowance, shielding more income from the formula

Parents’ available income and assets, and the income of an independent student with dependents, are then assessed on a progressive table that runs from 22% to 47%.

Important limitations

This calculator provides estimates only. Your actual SAI may differ because:

The FAFSA reads your tax figures straight from the IRS
Some income adjustments (untaxed IRA and pension distributions, education credits, a business or farm) aren’t captured here
Schools may use institutional methodology that produces different results
Professional judgment adjustments can change your SAI significantly

For your official SAI, file the FAFSA at StudentAid.gov.

Understanding your results

SAI range	What it means	Estimated Pell Grant (2026-27)
-$1,500 to $0	Highest need in the formula	$7,395 (the maximum)
$1 to $6,655	Calculated Pell	$7,395 minus your SAI
$6,656 to $14,789 (under twice the maximum)	Calculated Pell falls below the minimum	$740 (the minimum) only if you meet the income tests; otherwise $0
$14,790+	No Pell Grant	$0 (federal loans and school aid may still be available)

The maximum Pell Grant also applies, whatever the SAI, when your income is at or below 175% of the federal poverty guideline for your family size (225% for a single parent). The income tests for the minimum award are also set as a percentage of the poverty guideline. The FAFSA applies all of these rules to your official record.

Beyond the Pell Grant

Even if your SAI is too high for Pell Grant eligibility, the FAFSA opens access to:

Federal Direct Loans at fixed rates set by law, with income-driven repayment and forgiveness options private loans lack
Federal Work-Study for part-time campus employment
Institutional aid: many schools require a FAFSA on file for their own scholarships
State grants: most state programs use FAFSA data for eligibility

The FAFSA is free to file, and it is the only way to be considered for federal aid.