Student Aid Index (SAI)

Everything about FAFSA boils down to three letters, SAI, which stands for Student Aid Index. It is a calculated number that represents your family’s financial strength and ability to pay for college for one academic year.

The Student Aid Index (SAI) replaced the legacy Expected Family Contribution (EFC) for the 2024—2025 FAFSA, as many families found the term “Expected Family Contribution” misleading.

The SAI, unlike the EFC, may be a negative number, with the lowest possible amount of -1,500. This allowance for negative SAI numbers help identify neediest students with the greatest need. ¹

SAI is a very important number that will determine your need and eligibility for aid. Similar to the EFC, the lower the SAI, the more aid you’ll be eligible for.

Using that information, the schools will determine your financial need and package your financial aid award accordingly — usually in a combination of grants, loans and work-study.

Your financial need is the difference between your college costs (Cost of Attendance, or COA) and your calculated EFC. It’s really just a simple math!

For example, having a $20,000 cost of attendance and an SAI of negative $1,500, you could be eligible for $21,500 in need-based aid — an increase of $1,500.

The new formula, which goes into effect for the 2024—25 school year, will no longer consider the number of siblings attending college when measuring a family’s ability to pay, effectively eliminating a “sibling discount.”

This adjustment could make it less easier for families to afford college if they have more than one child pursuing a degree. For some families, the elimination of “sibling discount” will be the biggest change in aid eligibility.

What is a good SAI number?

Your Student Aid Index (SAI) is a formula-based index number ranging from –1500 to 999999 calculated using information that you provide on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

The lower your SAI, the more likely it is that you will be eligible for need-based aid, such as grants and subsidized federal loans.

The best case senario is to get a SAI below zero, as low as -$1,500, for maximum aid eligibility. Any student with a negative SAI number automatically qualify for a maximum Pell Grant award.

The higher your SAI, the less aid you’ll get, and the more you’ll pay out-of-pocket.

And the more likely it is that you will need to find additional sources of aid that are not based on need, such as merit scholarships, savings, unsubsidized federal loans, or private education loans.

What does an SAI of -1,500 mean?

An SAI of -1,500 is the lowest possible SAI score. Any student with an SAI between negative $1,500 and $0 will be guaranteed a maximum Pell Grant award, and will most likely qualify for other need-based financial aid.

So once you know your SAI, it becomes a lot easier to get a realistic idea of the amount of out-of-pocket costs you’ll be expected to contribute to fill the gap between the cost of a school and financial aid you’re entitled to receive.

If you want to have a quick estimate of your SAI, use the Federal Student Aid Estimator for a better estimate of the SAI and eligibility for federal student aid.

Keep in mind that your SAI is not the amount of money your family will have to pay for college nor is it the amount of federal student aid you will receive. It is an important number used by your school to calculate the amount of aid you are eligible to receive.

Footnotes

1. FAFSA Simplification Act of 2020 that represents a significant overhaul of the awarding and processing of federal student aid. ↩