Student Aid Index eligibility guide for 2025-26

The new FAFSA for the 2025-26 school year is scheduled to open on Dec. 1, 2024, (delayed from Oct. 1), and the Department of Education has provided this guide on the formula.

The guide both explains the formula for the Student Aid Index (SAI), as well as eligibility for Pell Grants. The SAI number is only a starting point, as the cost of schools being applied to and the financial aid policies of those schools are needed to determine whether financial aid will be awarded at each specific school.

Depending on one’s SAI, it is possible that a family can qualify for financial aid at one college, but not another.