This financial aid calculator will help you understand your financial aid eligibility by calculating your Student Aid Index (SAI). Your financial aid eligibility depends on many factors, including:
- The school's published cost of attendance
- Your Student Aid Index
- The school's financial aid policies
- Your Pell Grant qualification
- Any state-grant eligibility
Your SAI is calculated based on the information you and your family reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Some colleges rely on the CSS Profile in lieu of the FAFSA to determine financial aid eligibility, but this is mostly private colleges.
This calculator will help you determine your financial aid eligibility for the 2025 - 2026 school year, using the most up-to-date SAI and FAFSA calculations.
Related: Financial Aid And Grants By State
Financial Aid Calculator
Enter your information below to calculate your estimated financial aid eligibility. It should take less than 10 minutes to complete.
How To Use This Calculator
Source: The College Investor
This calculator will help you calculate your SAI, which is used by most financial aid offices to determine aid eligibility.
Financial aid comes in many forms, including grants, scholarships, work-study, and student loans. Your SAI is an indicator of your financial need.
The lower the SAI, the more financial need your family has. A negative SAI is the most "needy" group of students.
How Is The SAI Determined?
Your SAI is determined through calculations from numbers reported on your FAFSA. The higher the income or assets reported, the higher the SAI number. As such, a "good" SAI for financial aid is low.
How Is Financial Need Determined?
Financial need is typically determined by subtracting the cost of attendance from your SAI. The result is your financial need.
COA - SAI = Financial Need
It's important to note that there is no requirement that colleges "meet" your financial need with any type of financial aid. Hence why so many students and families borrower student loans to cover their costs.
How Do You Fill Out The FAFSA?
You fill out the FAFSA on StudentAid.gov. Here's a full guide to how to fill out the FAFSA.
Robert Farrington is America’s Millennial Money Expert® and America’s Student Loan Debt Expert™, and the founder of The College Investor, a personal finance site dedicated to helping millennials escape student loan debt to start investing and building wealth for the future. You can learn more about him on the About Page or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.
He regularly writes about investing, student loan debt, and general personal finance topics geared toward anyone wanting to earn more, get out of debt, and start building wealth for the future.
He has been quoted in major publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, ABC, NBC, Today, and more. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes.
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