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The FAFSA now uses income from your tax return only. But “income” isn’t just your wages or your Adjusted Gross Income. It’s all the income on your tax return, whether you pay taxes on it or not. Good news: the FAFSA no longer considers income that isn’t on your tax return, such as payroll deductions to your 401k, though the CSS Profile…

I’ve been planning my drive to the office around school bus routes the last couple of weeks, so it’s official. With a new (school) year upon us, here are some resolutions your family might make for the coming year. And, here’s hoping they don’t get broken as quickly as the typical New Year’s diet-and-exercise resolutions! For families of high school…

Assets are the smallest part of the FAFSA formula, but they are the one element you can still do something about if you’re filing the FAFSA this year. Assets are counted at their value on the day you file the FAFSA. Before we go into detail on what is and isn’t an asset on the FAFSA, let’s start with some…

It’s here: the Department of Education has published its Student Aid Index and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide for the 2026-27 school year. This is the FAFSA formula, aka how the sausage gets made. The Guide is available for download below, but first a little context and explanation. This year, the Department of Education has been consistent in saying that the…

Almost two-thirds of college students receive some form of scholarship, and the vast majority felt that scholarships made their college choice possible. However, persistent misperceptions about scholarships, who gets them and how to get them, mean that many students don’t get all the free money they’re eligible for. Many people estimate their Student Aid Index (the renamed Expected Family Contribution)…