The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, higher referred to as the FAFSA, is now open to all students for the 2025-26 academic yr.
The U.S. Department of Education expanded access to the shape on Monday. Although the shape is now widely accessible, it remains to be technically in beta testing as the federal government tries to make sure it’ll work when a bigger number of scholars access it. The official launch date is ready for Dec. 1.
“If you happen to complete the shape during this testing period, you is not going to have to finish it again following the official release,” the Federal Student Aid office tweeted.
Before Monday, the FAFSA was undergoing a limited beta test that began in October. Only 25,000 students or so were invited to finish the shape during limited beta testing. Now, the shape is open to any student who needs financial aid for the 2025-26 academic yr.
All students — no matter family income — who need to be considered for federal-, state- or college-level aid are encouraged to fill out the FAFSA. The data is used to award scholarships, student loans, federal work-study programs, grants and more.
Although the shape is open until June 2026, financial aid advocates recommend filling it out as soon as possible because some states and schools use the financial information from the FAFSA to award their very own aid on a first-come, first-served basis.
Why was the FAFSA delayed (again)?
The FAFSA typically opens on Oct. 1 annually. This yr, the Education Department only let a couple of hundred students begin filling out the shape on that date as a part of the initial stages of the phased rollout.
The department released the FAFSA this manner in order that it may well test and monitor for any issues students run into while filling out the shape — all in an effort to avoid a repeat of last yr, when the federal government launched an updated version of the shape referred to as “Higher FAFSA.”
That newly designed form, which was used for the 2024-25 academic yr, had a disastrous debut. The updated form drastically cut down the variety of questions in an try to simplify the financial aid process. But last yr, the FAFSA was anything but easy.
For starters, it was released about three months behind schedule and was riddled with technical glitches, which set into motion a domino effect that delayed college award letters and acceptance deadlines. In some cases, the fiasco kept students from committing to a school in any respect.
Universities, financial aid advocates, families and lawmakers blasted the Education Department for the botched FAFSA.
For the 2025-26 form, the department seems to have taken those critiques seriously.
Thus far, the nonprofit National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, or NASFAA, said the roll out has been “heartening” and that the department’s transparency and rigorous beta testing this yr is “helping restore the trust that has been lost” over the problems stemming from last yr.
To start on the brand new 2025-26 form, students and families should gather their financial documents, comparable to tax returns and bank statements, then log in to (or create an account on) StudentAid.gov to start filling out the brand new form. (For more advice on filling out the shape, read Money’s step-by-step guide to filling out the FAFSA.)
Because the form remains to be under beta testing, it’s possible some technical glitches will occur. Families should monitor the Education Department’s beta testing hub for updates and work-arounds to popular issues.
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