What is Financial Need?
Financial need is the difference between your cost of attendance at S&T and your Student Aid Index (SAI). This number helps us determine what aid you qualify for.
Your Cost of Attendance Includes:
- Tuition and fees
- Books and supplies
- Housing and food
- Personal expenses
- Transportation
Your Student Aid Index (SAI)
What is the SAI? The SAI is a number from your FAFSA that helps us determine your eligibility for federal, state, and S&T financial aid programs.
How your SAI is Determined
- Based on the federal formula from your FAFSA information
- Considers your family's income and assets
- Accounts for your household size
- Factors in how many family members are in college
Important to Know
- Your SAI is not how much you'll pay for college
- Your SAI is not the amount of aid you'll receive
- You must submit the FAFSA to get your SAI
Determining Your Dependency Status
Your dependency status affects how we calculate your financial need. This is different from tax dependency.
You're considered independent if you can answer "Yes" to any of these:
- Will you be a graduate student working toward a master's or doctorate degree in the coming year?
- Will you be turning 24 this calendar year?
- Are you married or separated but not divorced?
- Do you have children who receive more than half of their support from you?
- Do you have dependents, other than children or a spouse, who live with you and receive more than half of their support from you?
- Are you an orphan or ward of the court?
- Are you a Veteran or serving as active military?
- Are you an emancipated minor or are you in a legal guardianship as determined by the court?
- Are you an unaccompanied youth who is homeless or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless?