Yes, the SAI terminology replaces the former EFC terminology. The formula is also different, in many ways…see the info/links provided in this thread, including the one in the OP.
For example, one difference that will impact some families is that the SAI is not divided by the number of children in college, as the EFC was. There are many other differences, including all business and farmland being included in FAFSA now.
As a heads up, the College Money Index is much more accurate than the FSA calculator because they use the entire proposed formula of the new FAFSA. For extremely straightforward cases, it sounds like the FSA is also accurate, but for most people, there is a lot of deviation from what the actual formula spits out. For example, if I insert my family’s tax info into the actual formula, my SAI is about 3k. College Money Index pretty much is the exact same, but the FSA calculator estimates an SAI of 9k.
Last year with one child in college, my EFC was about 48K. Now I just plugged in using the new SAI and it shows 86K. When I used the College Money (just now) it is 48K. I will also have 2 in college this year, but neither formula asked for that info - so zero change in income, one child in each calculation and the number almost doubled.
Makes sense, because that’s not relevant for SAI calc/federal financial aid now. Family size is still asked because that can impact federal financial aid.
correct, the point being is that my EFC last year was 48K for one child, my SAI this year for one child was 86K. That is the problem as income has not changed. So my number doubled without anything changing at all.
Yes, if nothing else changed, families with two in college will see their SAI double.
Depending on the colleges involved, that may or may not be a problem.
It is expected that many CSS Profile schools (or generous schools that use their own FA form) will still consider other kids in college when calculating a family’s need according to their formula. Families should contact the school’s FA dept and ask.
There aren’t many non-CSS Profile schools that use the FAFSA SAI in their FA calculation/aid packages. They do recognize the federal financial aid from FAFSA of course, but the vast majority of these schools don’t meet full need for the vast majority of applicants. They are providing aid/discounting independent of FAFSA SAI. Families should also contact these schools and ask details.
But why is the 2024-25 SAI almost double that of the 2023-24 EFC when every data point is the same? (Income, one child, assets…) That would be a concerning point for many families.
2023-24 - one child EFC 48K
2024-25 - one child SAI - 86K (FAFSA form)
2024-25 - one child - 48K (CollegeMoney form)
I can’t speak to the veracity of either calculator.
Again, if nothing else changed regarding a family’s finances, families with two in college will see their SAI roughly double over last year’s EFC.
Whether or not that impacts either of the student’s FA packages depends on how the school(s) award FA (as I noted in my previous post).
The simplified FAFSA changes are geared to making college more affordable for low/limited income students. Some middle class/upper middle class families may be negatively impacted. Trade-offs as always.
we didnt fill out FAFSA this year for either of our two college kids. but our EFC two years ago was low 40s; just did this and the SAI now is 89100.
I feel for the families who see this notice on the SAI as it it sort of confusing. again. (the good news wording). Even i thought at first “wow! yay! some free money!”
and @Mwfan1921 - i get what @shmom41 is saying. We had 42K EFC with 1 kid in college. similar income two years later. . . but now sai is 89100 with two kids in college.
College Money form is much more accurate because it takes the exact formula that will be used. So expect 48k. Alternatively, there is a paper form you could use to calculate SAI yourself manually.
I may be misunderstanding @ shmom41, but I thought they were saying that they only had one in college last year. So the SAI is double the EFC though the number of students in college remained the same (1 with both formulas). So it must be some other difference between the old FAFSA and the new one (not number of college students) that is driving the doubling of the figure.
There are definitely other changes afoot in the formula. My kids’ SAI (according to both calculators) is actually considerably lower than our EFC and it looks like their pell grants will be higher. My D22 barely qualified for a pell grant. Now D22 and D24 will qualify for close to the maximum grant, I think.
why would it double with only one child in college? That is what happened when I ran the new formula. There is no second child in college in any of my computations.
and technically if you ran it today it is 89K for “one child” since that is all the info you gave them - the formula didn’t ask if you had 1 or 6 kids in college! So yours pretty much is identical to my situation.
So if you have two children
89K - first child
89K - second child
So you went from low/mid 40’s for one child to a combined 178K for two children.
Are there other financials that might not have been considered before?
Also…back to the same old question….did you have a retirement rollover…and if so, did you report that correctly? Otherwise, it’s considered income for FAFSA calculations. I do t know how the new FAFSA deals with rollovers but this caused a lot of higher family cost estimates than expected…if not reported correctly.
@kelsmom did they fix that rollover reporting on the new simplified FAFSA?
