Federal Student Aid Calculator

Used by Formulas B and C to pick the income protection allowance.
Sets the Medicare and Social Security thresholds in the payroll tax allowance.
Deductible IRA/Keogh payments, tax-exempt interest, untaxed IRA and pension distributions net of rollovers, and any foreign income exclusion.
Taxable college grant and scholarship aid reported as income, education credits and federal work-study.
Excludes the primary residence and retirement accounts. A negative figure counts as zero.
Optional. Financial need = cost of attendance minus the SAI.
Student Aid Index
4,624 USD
Student Aid Index (SAI) Calculator
Formula applied
Formula A - dependent student
Total parent income
80,000 USD
Total allowances against parent income
62,000 USD
Parents' available income
18,000 USD
Parents' contribution from assets
1,200 USD
Parents' adjusted available income
19,200 USD
Parents' contribution
4,224 USD
Total student income
4,000 USD
Total allowances against student income
12,076 USD
Student's available income
-8,076 USD
Student's contribution from income
0 USD
Student's contribution from assets
400 USD
Income protection allowance
44,880 USD
Employment expense allowance
5,000 USD
Payroll tax allowance (Medicare + OASDI)
6,120 USD
Award year of the tables used
2026-27
Worked out from U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid - 2026-27 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide, Version 1.1 and 3 other sources.
Allowance amounts are the published 2026-27 figures and are re-indexed every award year.
Under the FAFSA Simplification Act the parents' contribution is no longer divided by the number of family members in college.
The employment expense allowance is capped at $5,000, which binds at any earned income above about $14,286.
This is an estimate built from the published federal formula. Your official Student Aid Index is calculated by the FAFSA Processing System from your submitted FAFSA, and your school's financial aid office makes the actual award. Do not treat this figure as an aid offer.

How this is worked out

8 steps
  1. Total parent income = 80000.
  2. Allowances: tax 6000 + Medicare 1160 + OASDI 4960 + income protection 44880 + employment expense 5000 = 62000.
  3. Parents' available income = 80000 - 62000 = 18000.
  4. Contribution from assets = (10000 - 0) x 0.12 = 1200.
  5. Adjusted available income = 18000 + 1200 = 19200; Table A5 gives 4224.
  6. Student available income = 4000 - 12076 = -8076; assessed at 50% and floored at zero gives 0.
  7. Student assets 2000 x 0.2 = 400.
  8. SAI = 4224 + 0 + 400 = 4624.
Worksheet linestable
lineamount
3. Total parent income80,000
5a. Medicare hospital insurance1,160
5b. OASDI4,960
6. Income protection allowance44,880
7. Employment expense allowance5,000
8. Total parent allowances62,000
9. Parents' available income18,000
17. Parents' contribution from assets1,200
18. Parents' adjusted available income19,200
19. Parents' contribution (Table A5)4,224
27. Total student allowances12,076
28. Student available income-8,076
30. Student contribution from income0
36. Student contribution from assets400
37. Student Aid Index4,624

Results are general information, not financial, tax, legal, medical or engineering advice.