Student Aid Index (SAI)

What changed from EFC to SAI

Before 2024, US colleges used a metric called the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) to summarize how much a family was expected to pay toward college costs each year. The EFC was calculated by the federal government from FAFSA data and ranged from $0 (no expected contribution) to several hundred thousand dollars (full ability to pay).

Starting with the 2024–25 academic year, EFC was replaced with the Student Aid Index (SAI) under the FAFSA Simplification Act. The change wasn't just cosmetic:

1. SAI can go below zero, meaning families with very low or zero income can have a negative SAI like −$1,500. This signals to the school that the family has less than no ability to contribute — and qualifies the student for additional support like the Pell Grant maximum.
2. The formula was simplified — fewer questions on FAFSA, fewer asset categories considered, more reliance on IRS data transferred directly.
3. Untaxed income reporting changed — child support is treated differently, retirement contributions are weighted differently.
4. The "number of children in college" adjustment was removed — under EFC, having a sibling also in college lowered each student's contribution. Under SAI, this benefit is gone.

For most middle-income families, SAI ends up similar to or slightly higher than the old EFC. For very low-income families, SAI is more generous. For families with multiple children in college simultaneously, SAI is significantly worse than EFC.

How it relates to need-based aid

The SAI is the bottom of the need calculation:

Cost of Attendance (COA) − SAI = Demonstrated Need

If your school's COA is $87,000 and your SAI is calculated as $15,000, your demonstrated need is $72,000. The school's financial aid office uses this number to construct your aid package, intended to bridge the gap.

A school that meets 100% of demonstrated need will offer you aid totaling that $72,000 in some combination of grants, loans, and work-study. A school that only meets, say, 80% of need would offer ~$58,000 and leave you a "need gap" of $14,000 to find elsewhere.

Does SAI apply to international students?

Technically, the SAI as defined by the federal government applies only to FAFSA filings, which are restricted to US citizens and permanent residents. International students don't file FAFSA and therefore don't receive a federal SAI calculation.

However, every selective US college that offers need-based aid to international students uses an equivalent calculation based on the CSS Profile (or the school's own International Student Financial Aid Application). They apply their own version of an SAI-like metric to determine your demonstrated need and construct your aid package. The label may not be "SAI," but the math is the same.

For Korean families navigating need-based aid for international students, the practical takeaway: when you submit the CSS Profile to a school, the school will calculate your equivalent SAI behind the scenes using its own institutional formula. That formula varies by school — Harvard's calculation differs from Stanford's, which differs from Duke's. There's no single number that works for every school.

How to estimate your SAI

The most useful tool is the Net Price Calculator that every US college is required to publish. You enter your family's financial information, and the calculator returns an estimate of:

• The school's calculated SAI for your family
• Expected need-based aid offer
• Your estimated net cost (out-of-pocket annual cost)

This isn't a guarantee — actual offers can vary — but for families seriously considering a school, running its Net Price Calculator before applying is the single best way to set realistic expectations.

For Korean families: every selective US private school's Net Price Calculator works for international students if you enter the family's USD-equivalent income and assets. The estimate it returns will be close to what you'd actually receive if admitted (need-aware policies aside).