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Planning by base year
Each year's FAFSA® uses your taxes from two years before the school year starts. That year is the "base year". Savings are counted as they stand on the day you file. Plan shows what a change in a base year's income, or in your savings before you file, does to your taxes and to each child's aid.
Steps
- Tap Plan.
- Pick a scenario to try, such as "Sell an investment at a gain". For another, tap the scenarios button at the top, then New scenario.
- Tap Edit to set what changes, the tax year and the amount, then tap Save. Use ⓘ beside a change to see what it means.
- For a change in savings, pick one under "Savings on the day you file" and choose which FAFSA it comes before. Paying off debt, moving a custodial account or moving savings into retirement accounts carries into every later FAFSA; a deposit's timing affects only that one.
- Under Income taxes, see the change in federal and state tax for each year, and which children's FAFSA uses that year.
- In the chart, tap or hover a bar to see each child's change in aid index and Pell Grant for that school year.
- In the table, tap a column name to sort by it. Tap any amount to see how it was worked out.
- To compare, add another scenario and switch between them with the scenarios button.
Good to know
Which years count
A school year starting in fall 2028 uses 2026 taxes. A child's four years of college use four base years, from January of their sophomore year of high school to December of their sophomore year of college. With two children in college together, one year can count for both.
Aid index
The Student Aid Index from the FAFSA. Higher means colleges expect you to pay more. Need at a college is its cost minus the aid index, never below zero.
Savings on the day you file
The FAFSA counts cash, savings and investments on the day it's signed. It doesn't count your home, cars, retirement accounts, or what you owe on cars, credit cards or the home. A custodial (UTMA/UGMA) account is the student's and counts at 20%; a 529 for that student counts as a parent's, at most about 5.6%. Plan shows these rules' effect on the aid index. It isn't a suggestion to spend or move money.
Taxes
Worked out with the same tax engine as Taxtirement, from your latest return. For a year with no return yet, your latest return stands in.
What's not included
Tax credits such as the child tax credit, state deductions for 529 savings, taxes on selling investments to move them, and investment growth before you file. Each estimate lists what it assumed.
Colleges' own aid
Many private colleges also use the CSS Profile® and their own rules. This screen shows the federal figures.
Estimates, not advice
These are estimates of scenarios you choose. They aren't tax, investment or legal advice, or an offer of aid. The FAFSA is free at studentaid.gov.