For thirty years, the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) was the single number that defined every family’s financial-aid eligibility. The 2024 FAFSA rewrite replaced it with the Student Aid Index (SAI) — and while the purpose is the same, the formula behind it is meaningfully different. For some families, the change unlocks new aid. For others — particularly families with multiple children in college simultaneously — it cuts aid significantly. Here’s what changed and how to read the new number.
What happened to the EFC?
Starting with the 2024-25 FAFSA (the first cycle under the FAFSA Simplification Act of 2020), the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) was renamed the Student Aid Index (SAI) and the underlying formula was rewritten. The change took effect with the form that launched in December 2023 and continues through every subsequent cycle.
The EFC was the official term used on the FAFSA from the 1990s through the 2023-24 application cycle. It was the dollar figure that represented what the federal formula calculated the family could “expect” to contribute toward one year of the student’s college cost. Schools then used the EFC to determine eligibility for Pell Grants, subsidized loans, state aid, and institutional need-based aid.
The same number still drives the same downstream decisions — federal aid, state aid, and institutional need-based aid — but the formula that produces the number, and the way schools interpret it, has changed.
Why did the FAFSA replace the EFC with the SAI?
The Department of Education and Congress framed the EFC-to-SAI change around two goals: simplification (the new FAFSA is significantly shorter than the old one) and inclusivity (the new SAI formula expands Pell Grant eligibility for low-income families and removes some of the more confusing aspects of the old EFC calculation).
The FAFSA Simplification Act passed Congress in December 2020 with bipartisan support. Implementation was supposed to begin with the 2023-24 FAFSA but was delayed by a year due to the complexity of rebuilding the federal aid-processing system. The actual launch in December 2023 was famously rocky — the new form had significant bugs, schools received data months late, and the entire 2024-25 aid cycle ran behind schedule. By the 2025-26 and 2026-27 cycles, the system had stabilized, but the changes the law made are now permanent.
The renaming from “Expected Family Contribution” to “Student Aid Index” was also intended to reduce confusion. The old EFC label implied that the calculated number was what the family would actually pay — but in reality, most families paid more than their EFC because most schools didn’t meet 100% of demonstrated financial need. The new SAI label is meant to clarify that the number is an index used for eligibility ranking, not a literal contribution amount.
What stayed the same when the EFC became the SAI?
Despite the formula changes, the SAI plays the same structural role as the EFC did: it is still the federal eligibility number, still feeds state aid and institutional need-based aid, is still calculated from income and assets, and is still subject to Professional Judgment review. The mechanics of how it’s calculated are where the differences live. Specifically:
- It’s still the federal eligibility number. Federal aid programs (Pell Grant, subsidized Direct Loans, Federal Work-Study, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant) are calculated from the SAI just like they were from the EFC.
- It still feeds state aid. State grant programs use the SAI as the federal aid eligibility input, often combined with state-specific criteria.
- It still feeds institutional aid at most schools. Need-based grants and scholarships from the school itself are typically calculated against the SAI, either dollar-for-dollar (at full-need-met schools) or proportionally (at most other schools).
- It’s still calculated from income and assets. The two big inputs are still the family’s adjusted gross income (or income equivalent for non-tax-filers) and their reportable assets.
- It’s still subject to Professional Judgment review. A school’s financial aid office can still adjust the data inputs if the family’s circumstances have changed, just like they could with EFC. See the Professional Judgment guide for the appeal process.
If you understood EFC, the SAI’s role is identical.
How is the SAI different from the EFC?
Four significant changes distinguish the SAI formula from the old EFC formula: the SAI can now be negative (down to approximately -$1,500); the “number in college” divisor no longer reduces the parent contribution; the asset treatment of family farms and small businesses changed twice, and for 2026-27 they are excluded again; and a new poverty-guideline pathway awards the maximum Pell Grant automatically to low-income families.
| Old EFC | New SAI (2024-25 and later) | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest possible value | $0 floor | Negative allowed, down to about -$1,500 |
| Multiple kids in college | Parent contribution divided by number in college | No divisor — full parent contribution applied to each child |
| Family farm you live on / family business with 100 or fewer employees | Excluded from assets | Reportable for 2024-25 and 2025-26 only; excluded again beginning 2026-27 |
| Max-Pell shortcut for low income | None | Automatic max Pell at or below 225% of the poverty guideline for a single parent (175% for a parent who is not single) |
1. Negative SAI is now allowed. The old EFC formula was floored at $0 — the lowest possible EFC was zero, even for families with no income. The new SAI formula allows negative numbers, down to approximately -$1,500. A negative SAI doesn’t mean the school owes the family money — it means the family has demonstrated extra need beyond a zero contribution, which makes them eligible for the maximum Pell Grant plus, at responsive schools, additional institutional aid. For families in deep financial hardship, the negative-SAI tier is a meaningful upgrade over the old “$0 EFC = floor” treatment.
2. “Number in college” no longer divides the parent contribution. This is the single largest change for multi-child families. Under the old EFC formula, the parent contribution was divided by the number of children currently enrolled in college simultaneously. A family with two kids in college had their parent contribution cut in half per child. A family with three had it cut by two-thirds. This divisor was the single biggest reason multi-child families got disproportionate aid increases when more than one student was enrolled.
The new SAI formula eliminates that divisor for the federal calculation. The parent contribution is calculated once and applied in full to each child’s SAI. A family with two kids in college whose old EFC was $10,000 per child (split from $20,000) now sees an SAI of approximately $20,000 per child. The effect is significant — and largely unhelpful for families who counted on the multi-child reduction.
It’s worth noting what the divisor change does not affect:
- Nothing in the federal formula. Number-in-college is not part of the SAI calculation or the federal Pell eligibility tests, and the old “auto-zero SAI” shortcut it used to feed was retired along with the divisor. The poverty-guideline tests that replaced it run on AGI and family size
- CSS Profile institutional aid (some private schools using the CSS Profile retain a number-in-college divisor for their own institutional methodology)
- State aid programs (rules vary by state)
But the federal SAI itself does not divide. Families with multiple children in college simultaneously should expect noticeably less federal and most institutional aid per child under the new rules than they would have under the old EFC.
3. Family farms and small businesses were reportable for two years, then excluded again. Under the pre-2024 rules, a family farm the family resided on, and a small business with 100 or fewer full-time or full-time-equivalent employees owned and controlled by the family, were both excluded from FAFSA asset reporting. The FAFSA Simplification Act made both reportable, but only for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 award years. Public Law 119-21 restored the exclusions beginning with 2026-27, and it added family commercial fishing businesses to the excluded list. On the 2026-27 FAFSA you do not report the net worth of a family farm you reside on, a family-owned and family-controlled business with 100 or fewer employees, or a family commercial fishing business. The two-year window is the reason older guidance still says these count. See what counts as an asset on the FAFSA for the current list.
4. New poverty-guideline pathway to the maximum Pell Grant. The new formula introduces a maximum-Pell pathway that bypasses the SAI calculation entirely for low-income families. A dependent student whose single parent has an adjusted gross income at or below 225% of the federal poverty guideline qualifies for the maximum Pell Grant automatically, as does one whose parent is not single and has an AGI at or below 175%. Independent students have parallel tests keyed to their own AGI. This change was specifically designed to simplify Pell eligibility for low-income families and reduce the number of eligible students who didn’t apply because they didn’t realize they qualified. A separate and higher set of thresholds governs the minimum Pell Grant, which is a different rule with different numbers. Both tables are in FAFSA income limits.
Where do you find your SAI?
The SAI appears prominently on your FAFSA Submission Summary, the post-submission summary in your studentaid.gov account. It is the document formerly called the Student Aid Report, or SAR. Most FAFSA forms are processed immediately, though some take one to three days. The number is labeled “Student Aid Index” and shown as a single dollar figure, which may be negative, zero, or positive up to $999,999.
The SAI is the federal SAI — the number used for federal aid eligibility. Schools that calculate institutional aid using their own methodology (most CSS Profile schools and some private institutions) may produce a different “institutional SAI” or “institutional index” that they use for institutional aid alongside the federal SAI for federal aid.
What does your SAI number mean for aid eligibility?
A rough guide for 2026-27: an SAI at or below $0, including the whole negative range down to -$1,500, qualifies for the maximum Pell Grant of $7,395. An SAI of $1 to $6,655 produces a partial Pell on a sliding scale. From $6,656 to $14,789 the SAI calculation produces no Pell, because $6,655 is the highest SAI at which $7,395 minus your SAI still reaches the $740 minimum award, though the separate poverty-guideline tests can still qualify some students for a minimum Pell. At $14,790 or above your SAI is past the 2026-27 SAI ceiling for the program.
That ceiling is not absolute, and the exception matters. The 2026-27 SAI Guide’s Pell Grant Flag table applies no SAI ceiling at all when the FAFSA record carries a Children of Fallen Heroes indicator or an Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant indicator set to eligible. Both indicators run off the same Special Rule for Pell Grants in section 401(c) of the Higher Education Act, which covers a student whose parent or guardian died in the line of duty while serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces on or after September 11, 2001, or while actively serving as a public safety officer, and who is under 33 as of the January 1 before the award year. A student who meets that rule is awarded the maximum Pell Grant regardless of SAI. The flag table still requires a calculated SAI on the record, so the FAFSA has to be filed to get it. If this describes your family, do not skip the form because a calculator told you your SAI was too high.
Subsidized Direct Loan eligibility has no SAI cutoff. It is Cost of Attendance minus SAI minus your other financial assistance, capped by the annual loan limit for your year in school, so the same SAI can leave room for a subsidized loan at an expensive school and none at a cheap one.
2026-27 SAI quick chart
| SAI range | Pell Grant | Subsidized Direct Loan | Institutional need-based aid |
|---|---|---|---|
| -$1,500 to $0 | Maximum, $7,395/yr | COA minus SAI minus other aid, up to the annual limit | Maximum at responsive schools |
| $1 to $6,655 | Partial: $7,395 minus SAI, rounded to the nearest $5 | COA minus SAI minus other aid, up to the annual limit | Eligible at most responsive schools |
| $6,656 to $14,789 | No calculated Pell; the poverty-guideline minimum-Pell tests may still apply | COA minus SAI minus other aid, up to the annual limit | At full-need-met schools |
| $14,790 and above | None from the SAI calculation; the Special Rule for Pell Grants still pays maximum Pell with no SAI ceiling | Only if COA still exceeds SAI plus other aid | Varies by school |
In more detail:
- SAI of -$1,500 to $0: The maximum Pell Grant of $7,395 for the year, the largest subsidized Direct Loan your Cost of Attendance and annual limit allow, and maximum need-based institutional aid at responsive schools
- SAI of $1 to $6,655: A partial Pell Grant equal to $7,395 minus your SAI, then rounded to the nearest $5, which is the step the Department’s system applies before the award is set. An SAI of $2,003 gives $5,392, which rounds to $5,390; an SAI of $2,002 gives $5,393, which rounds to $5,395. The award is prorated if you enroll less than full time. You also have subsidized Direct Loan eligibility and need-based institutional aid at most responsive schools
- SAI of $6,656 to $14,789: No Pell from the SAI calculation. $6,655 is the last SAI at which $7,395 minus your SAI still reaches the $740 minimum award, so eligibility on that pathway stops there. The separate poverty-guideline tests can still produce a minimum Pell for some students. Subsidized Direct Loan and need-based institutional aid at full-need-met schools remain possible
- SAI of $14,790 and above: No Pell from the SAI calculation and none from the poverty-guideline minimum-Pell tests, because $14,790 is the 2026-27 SAI ceiling for both. The Special Rule for Pell Grants is the exception and has no SAI ceiling: a student with a Children of Fallen Heroes or Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant indicator set to eligible is awarded the maximum Pell no matter how high the SAI is. A subsidized loan is still possible where Cost of Attendance exceeds SAI plus other aid, unsubsidized Direct Loans do not consider SAI at all, and institutional aid varies by school
For the award-amount math, including how enrollment intensity prorates a Pell Grant, see how much Pell Grant will I get.
These thresholds shift each year as the Pell maximum and the federal poverty guidelines are updated. Check the current-year Pell maximum at studentaid.gov before relying on any specific dollar figure.
How does an old EFC translate to the new SAI?
If you remember a family member’s old EFC and want a quick mental conversion to the new SAI scale, there’s no clean formula — the SAI structurally differs in several ways at once. Loosely: single-child families typically land within roughly 10-20% of their old EFC, multi-child families see a much higher per-child number because the divisor is gone, and low-income families often see a lower one. The patterns in more detail:
- Single-child families typically see an SAI within roughly 10-20% of what their old EFC would have been
- Multi-child families typically see an SAI that’s much higher than their old per-child EFC would have been, because the divisor is gone — closer to the old single-child EFC value
- Low-income families often see a lower SAI than their old EFC, particularly if they qualify under the new poverty-level-based Pell pathway
- Asset-heavy families typically see a higher SAI than the old EFC because the Asset Protection Allowance was drastically reduced
For a precise current-year calculation, the SAI Impact Estimator walks through your specific situation using the federal formula’s current allowances and brackets.
Sources
- FSA Handbook 2026-27 AVG, Ch. 3 — SAI & Pell eligibility
- 2026-27 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide, Version 1.1 (PDF)
- COD System calculation of the Federal Pell Grant Scheduled Award (rounding to the nearest $5)
- PACT Act impacts to IASG eligibility and updated Pell eligibility for dependents of certain deceased servicemembers and public safety officers
- studentaid.gov - Learn about the FAFSA Submission Summary
- studentaid.gov — FAFSA overview
- FAFSA Simplification Act overview
Verified July 31, 2026 for the 2026-27 award year. This guide is informational and is not legal or financial advice. SAI calculation details and Pell thresholds update annually, so verify current-year values against the FSA Handbook before relying on specific numbers.