Financial aid is available to help you pay for college. The cost of attendance (COA) is an estimate of the total costs to attend UMass Lowell for one academic year, and includes both direct and indirect costs. The cost of attendance is factor in determining a students financial need.

Determining Need for Financial Aid

  • Student Aid Index (SAI) is numerical figure that determines a student's eligibility for financial aid. The SAI is calculated by the Department of Education using the financial information from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
  • Demonstrated Financial Need is calculated by subtracting the SAI from the COA. A negative SAI is treated as zero when calculating demonstrated financial need.
  • Example: COA - SAI = Demonstrated Financial Need (Need)

No SAI Determined

In some cases, the Department of Education could not determine a Student Aid Index (SAI) when completing the FAFSA. In these instances, the applicants are required to make corrections to the FAFSA.

For dependent student’s, the parent will need to return to StudentAid.gov and follow the directions below so that they can re-enter the family size information in order for the Department of Education to calculate the student's Student Aid Index.

  1. Parent should log in to the StudentAid.gov account Dashboard.
  2. Select “2024–25 FAFSA Form” from the “My Activity” section.
  3. Select the Actions menu and then “Make Corrections.”
  4. On the “Correct Your FAFSA® Form” page, select “Update Answers to Questions on Your FAFSA® Form” and then enter the Financials section.
  5. Navigate through the Financials section and find the “Family Size” page that asks, “Is the parent’s family size different from the number of individuals claimed on their 2022 tax return?”
  6. Change the answer to “Yes,” report correct family size, and then sign and submit the correction.

    *Independent students who are impacted by this issue must log in StudentAid.gov themselves to correct the family size in the Student section of the form.