How does it work?

Financial aid eligibility is based on a student's financial need, which is the difference between the college's Cost of Attendance (COA) and the student's Student Aid Index (SAI).

The COA is based on tuition, fees, room, board, books, supplies, equipment, transportation to/from college and miscellaneous expenses.

The SAI is based on the student and parent income and assets, family size, and other demographic factors.

This federal SAI is calculated based on the information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Most colleges use the federal SAI for awarding their own financial aid funds in addition to government aid. Fewer than 200 colleges use a supplemental form called the CSS PROFILE to calculate an institutional version of this measure to award aid granted by the school itself.

This calculator lets you estimate your child's SAI before you complete the FAFSA by answering a subset of the questions on the FAFSA. In most cases, a student with a lower SAI or higher COA will qualify for more financial aid. You can use the calculator to evaluate the impact of changes in income and assets on eligibility for need-based financial aid.

This calculator uses a simplified version of the federal SAI formula for the 2025-2026 school year.