How student aid is impacted by inflation data
A particular concern has been with the new FAFSA’s affordability calculation, known as the “Student Aid Index,” which determines the maximum amount a household can afford to pay. Prior to the current spike in inflation, the 2020 consumer price index data used by the new FAFSA at launch was outdated.
Financial assistance adviser and author of The Princeton Review’s “Paying for College,” Kalman Chany, says that “in prior years, it wouldn’t matter all that much because of low inflation.”
“The numbers are significantly understated” in this instance.
The Education Department must update the SAI tables annually using the most recent CPI statistics, according to the Consolidated Appropriations Act.
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