How much financial aid will I get in 2026-27?

For 2026-27, Pell pays up to $7,395, federal Direct Loan limits run from $5,500 to $12,500 a year, and state and campus grants depend on where you live and enroll.

For scale, undergraduates received an average of $16,810 in aid per full-time student in 2024-25, $12,080 of it in grants. Source · College Board, Trends in Student Aid 2025

Your own number depends on four things: your Student Aid Index (SAI), the school you pick, your state and your year in school. Each part of your aid follows its own rule, and only some of them can be worked out before you apply.

Your aid is a stack, and each layer has its own rule

Schools build your offer from your cost of attendance and your SAISAI, Student Aid Index. The number your FAFSA produces. Schools use it to work out your Pell Grant and other need-based aid: the lower it is, the more aid you can get.. Cost minus SAI is your financial need, which caps Pell, FSEOGFSEOG, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant. A federal grant your school awards to students with the most need, Pell Grant recipients first. Not every school takes part., Direct Subsidized Loans and Work-Study. Unsubsidized loans can then fill the rest of the cost. Source · StudentAid.gov, How aid is calculated

Layer	Range per year	Who sets it
Pell Grant	$740 to $7,395	Federal formula: income, family size, SAI
FSEOG	$100 to $4,000	Your school, from a fixed federal allocation
State grant	$0 to $17,236 (Cal Grant B at a UC)	Your state
Campus grants	Varies by school	The college
Federal Work-Study	No federal minimum or maximum	Your school, within your need
Direct Loans	$5,500 to $12,500	Federal limits by year and dependency

Layer Pell Grant

Range per year $740 to $7,395

Who sets it Federal formula: income, family size, SAI

Layer FSEOG

Range per year $100 to $4,000

Who sets it Your school, from a fixed federal allocation

Layer State grant

Range per year $0 to $17,236 (Cal Grant B at a UC)

Who sets it Your state

Layer Campus grants

Range per year Varies by school

Who sets it The college

Layer Federal Work-Study

Range per year No federal minimum or maximum

Who sets it Your school, within your need

Layer Direct Loans

Range per year $5,500 to $12,500

Who sets it Federal limits by year and dependency

Where you enroll can change your grant aid by thousands

Grant aid differs by college type. These are College Board estimates for first-time, full-time students in 2025-26. Source · College Board, Trends 2025, Figures CP-8 to CP-10

College type	Tuition and fees	Grant aid	Net tuition and fees	Net with housing and food
Public two-year (in-district)	$4,150	$5,340	$0 (grants exceed it by $1,190)	$9,660
Public four-year (in-state)	$11,950	$9,650	$2,300	$16,200
Private nonprofit four-year	$45,000	$28,090	$16,910	$32,830

College type Public two-year (in-district)

Tuition and fees $4,150

Grant aid $5,340

Net tuition and fees $0 (grants exceed it by $1,190)

Net with housing and food $9,660

College type Public four-year (in-state)

Tuition and fees $11,950

Grant aid $9,650

Net tuition and fees $2,300

Net with housing and food $16,200

College type Private nonprofit four-year

Tuition and fees $45,000

Grant aid $28,090

Net tuition and fees $16,910

Net with housing and food $32,830

Community college students have, on average, received enough grant aid to cover tuition and fees every year since 2009-10. Housing, food, books and transportation are what they still have to cover.

At private nonprofits, 88% of grant aid to first-time students came from the colleges themselves in 2022-23. That is why a private sticker price tells you little until you see the offer.

Pell is the part you can calculate now

Pell follows a published formula, so it is the one number you can pin down before any school sees you. Source · FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7, Ch. 2

Pell path	Who meets it
Maximum, $7,395	No tax return required, 2024 AGI at or below 175% of the poverty guideline (225% for single parents), or an SAI of 0 or less
Calculated	SAI of 1 to 6,655: $7,395 minus the SAI, rounded to the nearest $5
Minimum, $740	A second income test, plus an SAI under 14,790

Pell path Maximum, $7,395

Who meets it No tax return required, 2024 AGI at or below 175% of the poverty guideline (225% for single parents), or an SAI of 0 or less

Pell path Calculated

Who meets it SAI of 1 to 6,655: $7,395 minus the SAI, rounded to the nearest $5

Pell path Minimum, $740

Who meets it A second income test, plus an SAI under 14,790

Part-time students get Pell in proportion to their credits: 9 of 12 credits pays 75% of the award, 6 credits pays 50%. Source · FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7, Ch. 3 Our Pell Grant income limits guide has every income line by family size, and the SAI guide shows how the index is built.

Federal loans fill much of the rest, up to fixed limits

Direct Loans have annual limits set by your year in school and dependency status. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act left undergraduate limits unchanged. Source · StudentAid.gov, OBBBA definitions

Year in school	Dependent	Independent	Of which subsidized, at most
First year	$5,500	$9,500	$3,500
Second year	$6,500	$10,500	$4,500
Third year and beyond	$7,500	$12,500	$5,500

Year in school First year

Dependent $5,500

Independent $9,500

Of which subsidized, at most $3,500

Year in school Second year

Dependent $6,500

Independent $10,500

Of which subsidized, at most $4,500

Year in school Third year and beyond

Dependent $7,500

Independent $12,500

Of which subsidized, at most $5,500

Subsidized loans go only to undergraduates with financial need. Both types require at least half-time enrollment. The 2026-27 undergraduate rate is a fixed 6.52%, with a 1.057% origination fee. Source · StudentAid.gov, Interest rates

Parents of dependent students can add a Parent PLUS loan, capped at $20,000 a year per student for most new borrowing from July 1, 2026.

State grants range from almost nothing to more than Pell

Average state grant aid was $1,280 per full-time undergraduate in 2023-24. It ranged from under $200 in six states to over $2,000 in nine. Source · College Board, Trends in Student Aid 2025

The largest can pay more than Pell: California’s Cal Grant B pays up to $17,236 a year at a UC campus for 2026-27. Others are smaller. New York’s TAP pays up to $5,665 (2025-26), Pennsylvania’s State Grant up to $6,000 (2026-27), and the TEXAS Grant up to $5,399 per semester (2026-27).

Many states award through the FAFSAFAFSA, Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The free federal form for grants, federal student loans and work-study. Most states and schools use it for their own aid too., and several pay until their money runs out. For the 2027-28 year, Texas asks for the FAFSA by January 15, 2027, California by March 2, 2027 and Pennsylvania by May 1, 2027. Source · StudentAid.gov, FAFSA Deadlines Our state financial aid guide covers every state.

Read your aid offer line by line

An offer mixes money you keep with money you repay, and schools do not all label it the same way. Four checks make offers comparable:

1. Split grants from loans

   Pell, FSEOG, state and campus grants are kept. Direct Loans and Parent PLUS are borrowed. Work-Study is earned through a job.

2. Subtract grants from the full cost

   Cost of attendance minus grants is your net price. That is the number to compare across schools, not the sticker price.

3. Check what the cost includes

   Cost of attendance covers tuition, fees, housing, food, books, transportation and, where it applies, dependent care. An offer that leaves out living costs looks cheaper than it is.

4. Price the loans

   Multiply each loan by the years you will borrow it. A gap you fill with loans every year becomes four years of debt.

The Aid Letter Decoder does these four checks on an offer you paste in.

Four things that raise your aid

• Filing at all. The high school class of 2023 left more than $4 billion in Pell unclaimed by not completing a FAFSA. Source · NCAN, January 2024
• Filing early. FSEOG and first-come state grants are limited pots. The 2027-28 FAFSA has been open since September 23, 2026.
• Independent status. On the 2027-28 FAFSA, students born before January 1, 2004 are independent, so only their own income (and a spouse’s) counts. The Independent Student Check runs the FAFSA’s dependency questions.
• A special-circumstances review. If income fell after 2024, or you have medical or dependent care costs, a school’s aid officer can adjust your FAFSA data. The change applies only at that school. Source · FSA Handbook, AVG Ch. 5

Frequently asked questions

How much financial aid can I get in a year?

There is no single cap across all programs. Your need-based aid cannot exceed your cost of attendance minus your SAI, and your total aid cannot exceed the cost of attendance.

Do private colleges give more aid?

In grants, yes on average. First-time full-time students at private nonprofits received an estimated $28,090 in grant aid in 2025-26, against $9,650 at public four-year colleges. Their net price after grants was still higher: $32,830 against $16,200 with housing and food.

Does financial aid cover living expenses?

It can. Cost of attendance includes housing, food, books, transportation and personal costs, so aid up to that total can pay for more than tuition.

Your next step: see your own stack

Averages tell you what is typical. The aid check tells you what is likely for you: your Pell estimate, the state and campus grants that are possible, and your federal loan limits, in about two minutes.