FAFSA Student Aid Index

Estimate SAI for 2026–27 or 2027–28 and see how this student's 529 assets affect the formula. SAI is an aid index, not a college bill or an aid offer.

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Student and family

Maximum-Pell income qualification automatically excludes assets. Other exemptions can apply for federal means-tested benefits or qualifying simple tax returns below $60,000 AGI. Confirm the asset questions on your FAFSA. This model assumes U.S. resident contributors; foreign-residency exceptions and mixed filing-status returns need a school review.

Parent: 2025 income and current assets

$
$
$
$
$
Income adjustments and other assets
$

Deductible IRA/Keogh/other retirement contributions, tax-exempt interest, and untaxed IRA/pension distributions excluding rollovers. Exclude foreign income here; enter it separately below.

$
$

Taxable college scholarships/grants, education credits and federal work-study, as reported for FAFSA.

$
$

Use the last complete calendar year for child support. Exclude the primary home, retirement accounts, qualifying family businesses with 100 or fewer employees, a farm where the family resides, and qualifying family fishing businesses. Enter only assets FAFSA requires.

Student: 2025 income and current assets

$
$
$
$
Income adjustments and other assets
$

Deductible IRA/Keogh/other retirement contributions, tax-exempt interest, and untaxed IRA/pension distributions excluding rollovers. Exclude foreign income here; enter it separately below.

$
$

Taxable college scholarships/grants, education credits and federal work-study, as reported for FAFSA.

$

Use the last complete calendar year for child support. Exclude the primary home, retirement accounts, qualifying family businesses with 100 or fewer employees, a farm where the family resides, and qualifying family fishing businesses. Enter only assets FAFSA requires.

529 and college cost

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$
$
Plan monthly 529 savings and college withdrawals

Estimated aid index

Student Aid Index (SAI)16,486
Financial need before school aid packaging$18,514
SAI without this 529 balance15,358
Increase in SAI from this 5291,128

Financial need uses zero when SAI is negative. Schools determine actual aid; this is not a Pell Grant award estimate. A higher SAI does not mean an equal reduction in your aid.

Worksheet A: calculation details

Parent contribution$16,486
Parent payroll allowance$9,180
Student payroll allowance$383
Student income protection allowance$12,220
Formula result before maximum-Pell adjustment16,486

Reportable assets are included. Family size used: 4.

Use the dependency status and contributors required by FAFSA, not who claims the student on a tax return. Current assets are measured when FAFSA is filed. Do not include 529 accounts for other children in the entered balance. For a dependent student, their own 529 and their FAFSA parent's 529 count as parent assets. Siblings in college do not divide the parent contribution.

Includes formulas A, B and C, income and asset allowances, business/farm adjustments, negative SAI and maximum-Pell income adjustments. It does not decide dependency overrides, contributor selection, special circumstances, institutional/CSS Profile aid or actual grant eligibility.

2026–27 official formula guide · 2027–28 official formula guide

How it works›

Model and assumptions. Runs the implemented dependent or independent FAFSA worksheet using entered income, assets and household circumstances. The output is a Student Aid Index and need estimate, not a school’s aid package. CSS Profile, school packaging and unconfirmed asset-reporting exemptions are outside the model.FSA: 2027–28 SAI guide