Visit the College Board's EFC Calculator page (see Resources).
Determine your status as a student: independent or dependent. Federal programs do not require parental data from independent students, although individual schools may. Answer "Yes" or "No" to the questions on the page and click "Next."
Select the formula to determine your eligibility for financial aid. Choose between the Institutional Methodology formula (IM), the Federal Methodology formula (FM) or both. Once you make your selection, click "Next." The IM formula grants money from the school and is usually used with private schools, versus FM, which grants money from the federal government and is common to public schools. The IM taxes income twice, once by the state and again by the federal government. This results in the IM requiring a family to contribute more toward tuition, according to the Financial Aid Journal.
Enter household information, including your parents' marital status, your family size and home state/province. Once information is entered, click "Next."
Provide information about residents in your household. As the student, include your age, as well as other family members' information. Select "Next."
Input all finance information from tax form(s) and W-2(s) carefully.
View the results of your EFC calculation.