Student Aid Index (SAI) Calculator

This Student Aid Index (SAI) calculator gives a quick estimate of the number the FAFSA uses to decide how much need-based federal aid a dependent undergraduate can receive. Enter your parents’ adjusted gross income, each parent’s earnings, federal income tax paid, household size, reportable assets and your own income and savings. The calculator follows the federal dependent-student SAI formula (Formula A) and estimates your SAI and your Pell Grant for a full-time, full-year student.

It is meant for high-school seniors and their families planning ahead of the FAFSA, and for comparing scenarios — for example how a raise, a year of part-time work or moving savings affects aid. Your college subtracts your SAI (and other aid) from its cost of attendance to work out your financial need.

Figures are for the 2026–27 award year, which uses 2024 tax-year income: the official 2026–27 allowance and assessment tables (income protection allowance of $44,880 for a family of four, $11,770 for the student, an employment expense allowance of up to $5,000 and a 22%–47% assessment schedule), the 2024 Social Security wage base of $168,600, the 2024 HHS poverty guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and DC, a maximum Pell Grant of $7,395 and minimum of $740, and the new rule that a student whose SAI is at least twice the maximum Pell Grant ($14,790) cannot receive Pell. The SAI formula has no asset protection allowance and no state tax allowance. This is still an estimate: it treats the home and retirement accounts as exempt, counts all assets you enter (some lower-income families are exempt from reporting assets — enter 0 if that applies to you), assumes parents who are married file jointly, and ignores child support received, business or farm net worth, the foreign income exclusion, Alaska and Hawaii poverty guidelines and other special cases. Use the official Federal Student Aid Estimator before you file.

The parent contribution (PC) starts with total income (AGI plus untaxed income) and subtracts federal income tax paid, a payroll tax allowance (1.45% Medicare plus 6.2% Social Security on earnings up to $168,600, or $337,200 combined for married parents filing jointly), an income protection allowance that rises with household size ($29,190 for two up to $61,930 for six, plus $6,990 per extra person) and an employment expense allowance of 35% of the parents’ combined earnings, capped at $5,000. There is no state tax allowance and no asset protection allowance. 12% of reportable parent assets is added to give adjusted available income, which is assessed at 22% up to $21,800 and then at 25%, 29%, 34%, 40% and 47% in bands up to $43,900 and above; an AAI below −$8,500 gives −$1,870.

The student contributes 50% of income above their allowances (taxes paid, payroll tax, an $11,770 income protection allowance and any negative parent AAI) and 20% of their assets. Families with AGI above zero and at or below 175% of the 2024 poverty guideline (225% for single parents) qualify for the maximum Pell Grant and their SAI is capped at 0; otherwise Pell equals the maximum minus the SAI when that is at least $740, and the $740 minimum is guaranteed at or below 275% (325% for single parents) of the guideline. From 2026–27 an SAI of twice the maximum Pell ($14,790) or more rules out Pell entirely.