Need-based aid is awarded based on your financial need, which is a dollar amount. Your financial need is determined by taking the college’s full cost of attendance for one year and subtracting your SAI. Colleges try to fill in your financial need with need-based financial aid. If you receive additional scholarships from outside sources, colleges will assume that those scholarship can fill in part of your financial need. You can learn more about need-based aid in our blog post here: www.mefa.org/blog/what-is-needbased-financial-aid

Hi! Yes, this is guidance for all college students across the country.

A -1500 SAI means you’re eligible for the most amount of financial aid. The amount you receive will vary from school to school depending on each school’s enrollment goals and financial aid budget, but you will at least receive the maximum amount of Pell Grant.

Does your college cost $60,000 in total for 4 years, so $15,000 a year? Or does it cost $60,000 per year? If it’s $60,000 for one year, then the difference between that cost and your SAI, which is $46,883, is how much you would be eligible to receive in financial aid for one year. If your college is $15,000 per year, then you would be eligible to receive $1,883 in financial aid for one year.

@@MefaOrg yes, 15,000 per year. thank you!!

An SAI of 7 means that you are eligible for financial aid up to the amount equal to the school’s total cost of attendance minus 7. So if a college has a total cost of attendance for one year of $20,000, for example, then you are eligible for financial aid up to $19,993. The amount you actually receive in financial aid will depend on each college’s budget and enrollment goals.

Yours seems to be a high number so your need for financial aid will be lower

An SAI of 6,116 means that your eligibility for financial aid at any given school will be the difference between the school’s total cost (called the cost of attendance) and $6,116. So if a school’s cost of attendance equals $30,000, for example, then you would subtract $6,116 to calculate that you would be eligible for $23,884 in financial aid. But it will be up to each college to determine how much of your eligibility of financial aid they can provide for you.

Colleges subtract your SAI from their total cost of attendance to calculate your financial aid eligibility. Cost of attendance includes tuition, fees, food, housing, books, supplies, equipment, and transportation.

This minimizes risk while providing steady long-term growth. Have you considered setting up a retirement account like a Roth IRA?

Though MEFA offers guidance on college planning, and this interview features our conversation with a financial advisor, we’re not financial advisors ourselves, so we recommend you find a financial advisor who can help you build out your personal financial plan.

An SAI of -1500 means that you are eligible for the most financial aid you can receive, which is equal to the full cost of attendance at the school. It does not mean you will receive financial aid equal to the full cost of attendance, as most colleges do not have the financial aid budget to provide that much financial aid, but you are eligible to receive as much financial aid as the school can provide. You are also eligible for a Pell Grant from the federal government.

@MefaOrg Oh okay, thank you so much for answering

i was just about to ask this, mine also came out as -1500

@@user-ot4ti7cu4m Yes so same answer! An SAI of -1500 means that you are eligible for the most financial aid you can receive, which is equal to the full cost of attendance at the school. It does not mean you will receive financial aid equal to the full cost of attendance, as most colleges do not have the financial aid budget to provide that much financial aid, but you are eligible to receive as much financial aid as the school can provide. You are also eligible for a Pell Grant from the federal government.

Thanks for your question. It means that you are eligible to receive $14,200 in financial aid, but the college could decide to offer you less. The amount they offer is usually based on their financial aid budget and enrollment goals. You could use the college’s Net Price Calculator on their website to get an estimate of the financial aid you might receive, but that is also only an estimate. You will need to wait until you receive the college’s financial aid offer to find out what you have actually been offered in financial aid.

Making corrections to any aspect of the FAFSA, including parent assets, will not be available until the FAFSA has been processed. Federal Student Aid will begin processing FAFSAs in the first half of March, and you should receive an email once your FAFSA has been processed.

Your SAI helps determine your financial aid eligibility. The higher your SAI, the lower your financial aid eligibility. Colleges will use your SAI to determine how much financial aid they can offer you. So, as an example, if a college has a Cost of Attendance of $80,000, they will subtract your SAI of $62,000, and the remaining difference, $18,000 is the maximum amount they can offer you in financial aid. The actual amount they do offer will be based on their enrollment goals and funding levels.

@@MefaOrg thanks! I’m planning on going to umass Amherst anyway but this would have been nice if I went to BU or northeastern instead of

Best of luck! Please reach out to us at [email protected] or at (800) 449-6332 if you have further questions!

The CSS Profile will ask specific questions that will help you convey your situation. If colleges need more information, they may request you to write a letter explaining the details. They will let you know if you need to do that, and anything else you need to provide.

It used to but I heard people who had kids that didn't overlap college years complained so they changed it. So, instead of fixing it for everyone they wrecked it for everyone.

The SAI helps colleges determine a student’s eligibility for financial aid. A negative SAI means that the student is eligible for financial aid equal to the full cost of attendance at the school, which is the most financial aid that a student could be eligible to receive. Keep in mind that it only determines a student’s eligibility for financial aid, and not necessarily what the student will receive. Reach out to us at (800) 449-6332 or [email protected] if you have more questions, we’re here to help!

Hello, thank you for your question. You should be able to send the Profile to additional schools on the Dashboard. If the button to add schools disappeared, wait a day and then try again. If it’s still not there, you will need to call customer service: 844-202-0524

Thanks for your question! If a student is determined to be ineligible for the MassReconnect Program, that student may owe a balance to the college and/or be required to pay back funds received. However if you are asking about an eligible student not finishing the program, we encourage you to reach out to the college up front to answer this question about the program.

Thank you for your question! The noncustodial parent would just send his/her CSS Profile to the school requiring it. And the other school would not need to receive it! Reach out if you have more questions here, [email protected], or (800) 449-6332.

Thank you for sharing, we’re glad you enjoyed it!

Now that the 2024-25 FAFSA is available, there is an option for parents without an SSN to get an FSA ID. The FAFSA is in a soft launch period, so there will be several periods of downtime in the next few weeks - don't be discouraged if you can't log in, just keep trying. And if you have more questions, reach out to us at [email protected].

UGH EXACTLY!! I am having the exact same situation!

Hello! Thanks for your question. The student would just report $0 for income if they didn’t earn any money from working, and would report that they did not file taxes. If you have any additional questions, please give us a call at (800) 449-6332 or email us at [email protected].

Hi please I live with my guardian and not with my parent can I use my guardian tax return to file my css profile

Hi! Thank you for your comment. Please send us an email at [email protected] or give us a call at (800) 449-6332 and we'll be happy to help.

We do not know what their behind the scenes work means, but we are crossing our fingers for you!

Thank you!!

Hello! Apologies for the delay. We recommend you reach out directly to Kristen Quinlan, DCF Program Supervisor, who presented this webinar. She can be reached at 617-748-2204.

. The EFC is the number used by colleges and universities to determine your financial aid eligibility. Colleges take their full cost of attendance and subtract your EFC and the resulting number is the amount of financial aid that they are able to give you. It does not mean you will receive that full amount in financial aid. But that’s the amount you could receive if the college gives you everything for which you are eligible. Please note that the EFC will be called the Student Aid Index (SAI) as of the 2024-25 academic year.

Hello! We would be happy to connect with you to answer all of your questions. Give our office a call at (800) 449-6332 and a college planning expert will be happy to help!

Glad it was helpful!

You are welcome! We hope you found it helpful.

@@MefaOrg yes i did!

Hi Clayton, thank you for your question. If as a noncustodial parent you need to complete two Profiles, you will need to use two different email addresses, one for each student. While the College Board recognizes this inconvenience, this is the case for the time being.