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Your aid index and Pell Grant
The Overview shows each child's Student Aid Index (the "aid index") and Pell Grant estimate for their first year of college, worked out with the federal formula.
Steps
- Tap Overview.
- Under each child, see the Student Aid Index and the Federal Pell Grant estimate.
- Tap the aid index to see how it was worked out, line by line.
- Open "What this estimate assumes" to see anything the estimate had to assume.
- Tap "Before you file the FAFSA®" to check what to report and what to leave off.
Good to know
Aid index
The number colleges use to decide need-based aid. It can be as low as −1,500. Lower means more aid. Need at a college is its cost minus the aid index, never below zero.
Pell Grant
Federal grant money that isn't repaid. A lower aid index means a larger grant. The estimate uses the federal tables for the school year shown.
Later school years
When a child starts college after the latest federal tables, AidAhead uses the latest tables and says so under "What this estimate assumes".
Before you file
A checklist built from your answers: what the FAFSA counts, what it leaves out (such as retirement accounts and your home), and what's still to answer. AidAhead never fills in or files the FAFSA for you.
Estimates, not offers
These are estimates, not offers of aid. The FAFSA is free at studentaid.gov.