🧮 2027–28 FAFSA · 2025 income

Estimate your Student Aid Index. See the Pell Grant it points to.

The 2027–28 FAFSA — for college starting in the 2027–28 school year — asks about 2025income. This page runs the Department of Education's published formula on the figures you type — the same worksheets, tables and rounding rules — and shows each line, so you can see what moves the number before you file.

Your answers stay in this browser (saved here so you can come back) and nothing is sent to us.

1. Whose information goes on the FAFSA

Is the student dependent or independent?

Dependent — report parentsNone of the list below applies. This is most students straight from high school.Independent — no parent informationAt least one of the list below applies.

Who counts as independent for 2027–28

Born before January 1, 2004
Married (not separated or divorced)
Starting a master's or doctoral program or graduate certificate
On active duty (other than for training) or a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces
Has children or other dependents who get more than half their support from the student
Since turning 13, both parents died, or was in foster care or a ward of the court
An emancipated minor or in legal guardianship, as determined by a court
Determined homeless or at risk of homelessness on or after July 1, 2026 by a shelter, school district, TRIO or GEAR UP project, or a financial aid administrator

A student who doesn't meet these but can't contact their parents for a serious reason can ask a college's aid office for a dependency override.

2. Household

Where your parents liveOnly used for the poverty guideline in the Pell tests.

Your parents' marital status

Two parentsMarried or remarried, or unmarried and living together.One parentNever married, divorced, separated or widowed — report the parent who gave more support.

Household sizeThe student, the parents, and siblings or others who live with the parents and get more than half their support from them. Usually everyone on the parents' tax return.

3. 2025 federal tax return

Did your parents file (or will they file) a 2025 federal income tax return?

YesNo — neither parent filedNot required to file. The SAI is then −1,500 and the student qualifies for the maximum Pell Grant.

What the SAI is: A number from −1,500 to 999,999 that the FAFSA works out from 2025 income, assets and household size. Colleges subtract it from their cost of attendance to find how much need-based aid you can get, and it decides the Pell Grant. It is not a bill and not what you will pay.
What changed since the EFC: The SAI replaced the Expected Family Contribution in 2024–25. The number of family members in college no longer lowers it, it can be negative, and families with low incomes or federal benefits skip the asset questions.
Not every college stops at the SAI: Many private colleges also ask for the CSS Profile and use their own formula for their own grants — often counting home equity, both divorced parents and the number in college. Their net price calculator is the better guide there.

What this estimate does — and doesn't

It follows the 2027–28 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide (June 2026) — Formulas A, B and C, the maximum- and minimum-Pell income tests against the 2025 poverty guidelines, and the rule from the FAFSA specifications for who is asked about assets. The Department's own worked example comes out at the same SAI, line for line.
The Pell Grant figure uses $7,395, the 2026–27 maximum. The 2027–28 maximum is set by Congress and hadn't been announced when this page was built; the SAI itself doesn't depend on it. It is the full-time, full-year amount for an undergraduate; part-time study gets less, and a student whose other grants and scholarships already cover the whole cost of attendance may get less or none.
It simplifies a few things the FAFSA asks in more detail: one filing status for both parents, rollovers already taken off, and no foreign or Puerto Rico tax returns, professional-judgement changes or special Pell rules (such as for children of fallen service members or public safety officers).
The SAI on your FAFSA Submission Summary is the one colleges use. The Department's own Federal Student Aid Estimator gives an official estimate too.
Got your award letters? Compare your financial aid offers side by side. Still choosing where to apply? The US college matcher compares net prices for your income band.