Free educational estimator

FAFSA / SAI Quick Estimator

Estimate a 2026–27 Student Aid Index (SAI) for a dependent undergraduate using a simplified version of the federal Formula A, then compare it with a school's annual cost to see an estimated federal financial need. This is an educational planning estimate — not the official FAFSA.

Your details

The form starts with sample values for illustration only — replace them with your own information.

School cost

Annual Cost of Attendance (COA)

Use the school's published annual Cost of Attendance, including tuition, housing, food, books, transportation, and other standard attendance costs.

Parent household

Parent Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)

Use the applicable prior-prior-year tax return figure where possible.

Parent income earned from work

Enter the parents' combined income earned from work for the applicable prior-prior tax year. This is used for the simplified payroll-tax and employment-expense allowances.

U.S. income tax paid

Family size (people in household)

Parent cash, checking and savings

Parent investments & parent-owned 529

Parent-owned 529 accounts may affect the aid estimate, but they are also funds available for education. This tool estimates SAI only and does not evaluate whether your college savings are sufficient.

Business / farm assets (optional)

Child support received (optional)

Student

Student's annual income

Simplified: the first $11,770 is protected. FAFSA's student tax adjustments are not modeled.

Student's cash, savings and investments

Assessed at 20% in this federal estimate — a higher rate than parent assets.

Your estimate

Estimated Student Aid Index (SAI)

$20,879

Estimated federal financial need

$49,121 / $70,000 COA

This is an estimate of financial need, not the amount of aid a school will award.

Award year: 2026–27
Student type: Dependent undergraduate
Formula: Simplified Formula A
Result: Educational planning estimate, not an official FAFSA result

SAI breakdown

Parent contribution: $19,879
Student contribution from income: $0
Student contribution from assets: $1,000

Method & simplifications

Parent available income = AGI minus reported U.S. income tax paid, minus the simplified payroll-tax allowance, minus the employment expense allowance, minus the federal Income Protection Allowance for your family size.
A simplified 7.65% payroll-tax allowance proxy is applied to parent earned income. The official FAFSA calculation uses the applicable payroll-tax table.
Employment expense allowance: the lesser of 35% of parents' combined earned income or $5,000.
Parent reportable assets (cash and savings, investments and parent-owned 529, an adjusted business/farm portion, and child support received) are assessed at 12%.
Student income is simplified: income above the $11,770 protection is assessed at 50%, without FAFSA's student tax adjustments.
The result keeps the federal SAI floor of -1,500. Not every FAFSA field is modeled.

What affects your estimate

Parent income is usually a major driver.
Parent reportable assets can affect SAI.
Student assets are assessed more heavily.
Primary-home equity and retirement assets are excluded from this federal-only estimate.
Parent-owned 529 is treated as a parent asset in this simplified estimate.

Next steps

1.Confirm your estimate with the official Federal Student Aid / FAFSA estimator.
2.Use each target school's official Net Price Calculator.
3.Complete the CSS Profile only if the school requires it.

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