What Is the Student Aid Index (SAI)?
The Student Aid Index is a number produced when you submit the FAFSA. It isn't the amount your family has to pay for college, and it isn't the amount of aid you'll receive — it's the number colleges use as a starting point when assembling your financial aid package.
The SAI replaced the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) starting with the 2024–25 FAFSA cycle, as part of the FAFSA Simplification Act. If you've seen EFC referenced on older Grantford pages or elsewhere online, SAI is the current term. The underlying purpose is the same — measuring your family's financial picture — but the formula changed significantly.
How Is the SAI Calculated?
The Department of Education calculates your SAI automatically when you submit the FAFSA, using information you provide about your family's finances. The main factors are:
The key factors the SAI formula weighs are your family's adjusted gross income, assets (savings, investments, and business assets above certain thresholds), family size, and number of family members enrolled in college simultaneously. Student income and assets are also counted, typically at a higher rate than parental assets.
One important change from the old EFC formula: the SAI no longer adjusts for the number of family members in college at the same time. Under the old EFC system, having two children in college simultaneously reduced each student's contribution. The SAI formula eliminated this adjustment, which means some families with multiple college students will see a higher number — and less aid eligibility — than they expected.
What Does Your SAI Number Mean?
Your SAI can range from -1,500 to 999,999. Here's how to read it:
The basic aid formula colleges use is:
Cost of Attendance − SAI = Financial Need
Financial need determines your eligibility for need-based aid — including subsidized loans, work-study, and institutional grants. However, colleges have discretion in how they package aid, which means two students with the same SAI can receive very different offers depending on the school.
Your SAI doesn't change based on which college you attend, but your financial need — and therefore your aid package — will differ at every school because each school sets its own Cost of Attendance.
Where to Find Your SAI
After you submit the FAFSA, you'll receive a FAFSA Submission Summary (formerly called the Student Aid Report, or SAR) via email, typically within 3–5 days. Your SAI appears prominently on this document. If you didn't provide an email address on your FAFSA, a paper copy will be mailed within 7–10 days.
Your FAFSA Submission Summary will also be sent electronically to every school you listed on your FAFSA. Each school's financial aid office will use your SAI — along with their own institutional aid policies — to build your financial aid award letter.
Can You Lower Your SAI?
You can't change your SAI after submitting the FAFSA, but there are legitimate ways to reduce it on future applications. Making sure you understand which assets are counted (and at what rate) before you file is the most effective strategy. If your financial situation has changed significantly since you filed — job loss, medical expenses, divorce, or other unusual circumstances — you can contact your financial aid office directly to request a professional judgment review. Colleges have authority to adjust your SAI manually in documented cases of financial hardship.
For a full walkthrough of how to fill out the FAFSA in a way that accurately represents your situation, see our guide on the right way to fill out the FAFSA.
