Methodology & data sources
AidIndex is a free reference for the FAFSA Student Aid Index (SAI) and federal Pell Grant for the 2026-27 award year. This page documents exactly where our figures come from, the formulas behind the calculators, and the assumptions and limitations. Everything is general information - your official SAI and aid are determined by the federal FAFSA processor and your school.
Data sources
| Source | Used for | License |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide (U.S. Dept. of Education / FSA) | annual | Public domain (US Government) |
| Federal Need Analysis Methodology for the 2026-27 Award Year, 90 FR 23922 (Federal Register, June 5 2025) | annual | Public domain (US Government) |
| 2026-27 Federal Pell Grant Maximum and Minimum Award Amounts (Dear Colleague Letter) | annual | Public domain (US Government) |
| 2024 HHS Poverty Guidelines, 89 FR 2961 (prior-prior year, used for 2026-27 Pell pathways) | annual | Public domain (US Government) |
Snapshot: all tables are committed static data as of June 2026 for the 2026-27 award year. We re-verify against the official sources each award year.
How the SAI calculator works
The calculator implements the three published need-analysis formulas from the 2026-27 SAI Guide and the Federal Register notice:
- Formula A (dependent): parents' available income (income minus U.S. tax paid, the payroll-tax allowance, the income protection allowance, and the employment expense allowance) plus a 12% asset contribution, run through the Table A5 assessment schedule, plus the student's 50% income contribution and 20% asset contribution.
- Formula B (independent, no dependents): the student's (and spouse's) available income assessed at 50%, plus a 20% asset contribution.
- Formula C (independent with dependents): available income plus a 7% asset contribution, run through the same assessment schedule (Table C6).
The result is floored at -$1,500 (the published minimum SAI). The asset protection allowance is $0 for 2026-27, and the parent contribution is not divided by the number of students in college.
How the Pell calculator works
The maximum Pell is $7,395 and the minimum is $740. The tool applies the published pathways: non-filer or SAI ≤ 0 or AGI within the max-Pell poverty multiple gives the maximum; SAI up to $6,655 gives maximum minus SAI (floored at the minimum); a higher AGI-vs-poverty multiple gives the minimum; and an SAI of $14,790+ is ineligible. Awards are prorated by enrollment intensity and capped at cost of attendance. The poverty pathways use the prior-prior-year (2024) HHS guidelines.
Assumptions & limitations
- The SAI estimator uses AGI for total income and omits untaxed-income additions (e.g. untaxed pension/IRA distributions), so results for families with substantial untaxed income will be low.
- It does not auto-apply the asset-reporting exemption available to some lower-income families.
- It uses the standard two-parent Table A5 assessment schedule.
- The Pell tool's automatic-min pathway is simplified to the AGI-vs-poverty test; some edge cases (e.g. specific grant indicators) are not modeled.
- All calculators run entirely in your browser; we do not store your inputs.
Figures are estimates for general information and may lag the underlying source or contain errors. Always verify against the primary source and your school before relying on them. See our disclaimer.
Last updated: 2026-06-22