The Department of Education’s FAFSA calculator — called the FAFSA4caster — allows you to calculate how much federal aid you might receive ahead of time. This tool can help you narrow down your college choices by showing which you likely can — and can’t — afford. However, it can’t predict what nonfederal aid you might receive from a school.
The FAFSA4caster is a calculator you can use to predict how much federal financial aid you can expect to receive — regardless of where you decide to go to school. It’s available on the Federal Student Aid (FSA) website and is free to use.
This calculator can help you compare schools by price. Rather than simply telling you the school’s cost of attendance (COA), this tool tells you how much you might actually pay, depending on your family’s finances.
The FSA recommends using it around your junior year of high school when you’re starting to think about college but aren’t ready to submit the FAFSA.
You can get the following information by using the FAFSA4caster:
In other words, it doesn’t calculate university scholarships and grants, Parent PLUS Loans or private loans. While you can include those numbers in the FAFSA4caster, they’re not estimated for you.
To get a more accurate picture, you might want to look at the school’s financial aid program as well. Some meet 100% of your financial need, meaning you likely only have to pay the EFC if you choose to attend.
The FAFSA4caster is available on the FSA website. The first two steps help the calculator estimate your eligibility for federal aid programs, such as Pell Grants and federal student loans. The last two steps allow you to review your potential federal aid awards and provide information about other resources you might use to pay for school.
You’ll first be asked to answer basic questions about yourself, which may include:
You also might have to answer questions about military service and your relationship with your parents or guardians.
You’ll only see this section if the FSA considers you a dependent student. You might want to ask your parents for help answering these questions:
Once you’ve finished answering questions about yourself and your family, click Submit.
This next step covers the cost of the school you’re considering:
This section allows you to provide information on other resources you plan on using to pay for college. This might include Parent PLUS Loans your family plans on taking out or any college savings.
Click Recalculate.
It’s not totally obvious how to read the results — you won’t be taken to a page with a breakdown. Here’s how to interpret that last page:
You might want to use the FAFSA4caster for several reasons, including:
The FAFSA4caster can give you an estimate of how much financial aid you’ll receive from the government before actually filling out the FAFSA. It can also tell you how much your family might need to fork over for school before you apply.
You can learn more about how to pay for school by reading our guide to student loans.
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