Parent contribution calculator

What counts from parents — and what doesn’t

The formula looks at parent adjusted gross income from the tax return two years before the aid year, untaxed income, cash and savings, and investments. It does not count retirement accounts or the home you live in — and for the 2026–27 year, a family business with 100 or fewer full-time employees, or a farm your family lives on, is not reported either. Families often over-estimate their number because they mentally include assets the formula ignores.

Divorced or separated? Only one parent files

Under the current FAFSA rules, the parent who provided the most financial support completes the form — not automatically the parent the student lives with, which was the old rule. If your household situation changed recently, run the estimate with the filing parent’s finances only; it can move the result substantially.

Common questions

Is there still a “parent contribution” on the FAFSA?

Not as a formal line item. The FAFSA now produces a single Student Aid Index (SAI) for the student. For dependent students, though, the parent section of the formula usually drives most of that number — which is why estimating it from parent finances still makes sense.

Do our retirement accounts count against us?

Balances in retirement accounts are not reported on the FAFSA at all. The calculator mirrors that: it never asks for them. Only non-retirement cash, savings, and investments enter the parent asset picture.

Does having two kids in college cut the parent share?

It used to — the old EFC divided the parent contribution by the number of children enrolled. The current federal formula removed that division, and this calculator reflects the current rules. Some colleges still consider siblings in college when awarding their own institutional aid, so it can be worth asking each college directly.

Do grandparent-owned 529 plans count?

A 529 owned by a grandparent is not reported as a parent or student asset on the FAFSA, and under the current rules distributions from it no longer count as student income. College-specific aid forms can treat this differently, so check any school that uses its own application.

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