SAI calculator — the Student Aid Index that replaced the EFC

What you’ll need to estimate accurately

The FAFSA uses tax data from two years before the aid year — for 2026–27, that’s the 2024 return. Have the filing parent’s adjusted gross income and federal tax paid from that return, plus current balances for non-retirement savings and investments. Retirement accounts and your home stay out of it, so leave them off.

What your SAI actually is — and is not

The Student Aid Index is an eligibility index, not a price. Colleges subtract it from their own cost of attendance to measure your financial need; it is not the amount you’ll be asked to pay, and at many colleges families pay less than sticker but more than their SAI. A lower SAI means the formula sees more need, and a negative SAI signals the highest need of all.

What replaced the EFC

The FAFSA Simplification Act replaced the Expected Family Contribution with the Student Aid Index, starting with the 2024–25 FAFSA. The role is the same, but the name change came with real formula changes, so an old EFC estimate is not just mislabeled, it can be meaningfully wrong.

What actually changed in the math

Three differences matter most for families. The SAI can go as low as −1,500, where the EFC stopped at zero — a negative number signals the highest need. The old division of the parent contribution across siblings enrolled in college at the same time is gone from the federal formula. And Pell Grant eligibility is now tied more directly to income and family size, so some families see grant eligibility an EFC-era calculator would have missed.

How colleges turn the SAI into an aid offer

Each college takes its cost of attendance, subtracts your SAI, and decides how much of the resulting need it meets — and that generosity varies enormously between schools. That’s why the same SAI can mean very different real prices. Once you have your estimate, compare average net prices by income band at the colleges on your list to see how the number tends to play out in practice.

Two kinds of calculators — use both

Federal-formula estimators like this one tell you your Student Aid Index and Pell Grant position — the inputs every college starts from. Net price calculators on individual college websites add that school’s own institutional aid on top. The federal estimate travels with you across every college; the institutional one is different at each. Start here, then check the net price calculator at any school you get serious about.

Common questions

What is a “good” SAI?

Lower is better for aid eligibility. An SAI near or below zero indicates the highest need the formula recognizes, and typically the strongest Pell Grant position. There’s no cutoff where aid disappears, though — even at higher SAIs, some colleges award substantial need-based or merit aid.

Is the SAI what my family will actually pay?

No. It’s the input colleges use to measure need. What you pay depends on each college’s cost and how much of your need it chooses to meet. Two colleges can look at the same SAI and produce offers thousands of dollars apart.

Is the EFC still used anywhere?

You’ll still see the term in older articles, some state program descriptions, and conversations with people who went through the process before the change. Colleges that use the CSS Profile also compute their own institutional number, which is a separate calculation altogether. The federal formula, though, produces an SAI.

Why does my old EFC estimate differ from this SAI?

Three usual reasons: the old calculator used retired tables, it divided the parent share by children in college, and it could not go below zero. If your family has more than one student enrolled, the difference can be significant — in either direction — so it’s worth re-estimating with current rules.

Is this the official FAFSA?

No. The official form lives at studentaid.gov and is always free to file. This is a pre-flight: the same formula on your own numbers, so you know what to expect before you start the real thing.

Which tax year does the 2026–27 FAFSA use?

The 2024 tax return — the FAFSA always reaches back two years, precisely so families can file from a completed return instead of estimates.

Does this include merit scholarships?

No — the federal formula is need-based and doesn’t know your GPA or test scores. Merit aid is awarded college by college, and outside scholarships stack on top. Treat this estimate as the floor of your aid picture, not the whole of it.

Which formula does this calculator use?

The 2026–27 federal formula for dependent students (Formula A), the same computation tested against published worked examples. Independent students use different formulas the estimator doesn’t cover, and colleges using the CSS Profile add their own institutional calculation on top.

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