ED Will Open 2025-26 FAFSA Beta Testing to All Students and Families "Before the End of the Month"
By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter
The Department of Education (ED) on Thursday announced that “before the end of the month” beta testing for the 2025-26 FAFSA will open to all students and families, meaning any student will be able to submit their FAFSA as part of an expansion to ED’s final beta testing phase before the form is officially set to launch by December 1.
In Thursday’s announcement, ED confirmed that it has entered its fourth and final period of beta testing for the 2025-26 FAFSA. Before the end of the month, ED will open access to the 2025-26 FAFSA to all students and families as part of a testing period referred to as “Expanded Beta 4.”
The Department has said it will decide to end all beta testing and announce the official, full release of the 2025-26 FAFSA based on platform stability, customer satisfaction, and contact center capacity. December 1 is still the latest expected date for the full launch.
In response to today’s announcement, NASFAA has created a questions and answers resource to help members understand this new expanded testing phase and what it means for their students and institutions.
Specifically, under the fourth beta testing period, ED clarified that it is continuing its work with selected organizations and institutions in recruiting thousands of students to test and submit the 2025-26 FAFSA. ED noted that the fourth beta testing period is still being conducted through the same invite-only process that it has done in the previous three beta testing periods.
Once “Expanded Beta 4” has commenced, the 2025-26 form will be open to any interested student or family. That means those interested in submitting their FAFSA before the official launch date will be able to do so on the FAFSA website. Additionally, during this expanded beta testing institutions and states will still receive Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) from students – and will likely begin receiving a higher volume of ISIRs than previous testing periods.
“Throughout weeks of beta testing, we have seen thousands of applicants successfully complete the 2025-26 FAFSA form and tens of thousands of records be sent to institutions across the country,” said FAFSA Executive Advisor Jeremy Singer in a statement. “And while we know that all new software launches come with hiccups, the consistency of the experience and the feedback of beta participants gives us confidence that the 2025-26 FAFSA form is ready to handle the large volume of applicants that await its arrival.”
NASFAA Interim President & CEO Beth Maglione welcomed Thursday’s announcement.
“Seeing the Department underpromise and overdeliver on this year’s FAFSA launch timelines and outreach is heartening,” Maglione said in a statement. “Continuing this strategy into the future would be a step toward helping restore the trust that has been lost between the financial aid community and the Department. As we move forward, NASFAA remains hopeful that lines of communication will remain open and this strengthened partnership will result in students, their families, and schools being greeted by a ‘Better FAFSA’ platform that will work end-to-end, for all stakeholders – this academic year, and beyond.”
ED noted that students who submit a FAFSA during either the fourth beta testing period or the “Expanded Beta 4” testing period will be able to make corrections to the form after it is processed. The department also stressed that the FAFSA that is available during beta testing is the real FAFSA, and that applicants who submit during beta testing will not need to submit another 2025-26 FAFSA. The paper FAFSA is expected to launch at the same time as the full launch, which is still set to happen by December 1.
Some students may opt to submit their FAFSA during the “Expanded Beta 4” testing period, or some may choose to wait until the FAFSA is officially launched by December 1. ED clarified regardless of what students and families choose, students and their contributors should sign up now for a FSA ID if they do not already have one.
During “Expanded Beta 4” testing, ED will monitor system performance and support operations – such as the call center – and “adjust operations as needed.” This expanded beta testing will allow ED to test the FAFSA system with higher volumes of users than previous periods.
Once ED has determined that the FAFSA system is “operating smoothly” with a large number of users, the expanded beta testing will end, and the department will announce the official launch of the 2025-26 FAFSA by December 1.
In Thursday’s announcement, ED noted it has not found any “critical bugs” during the beta testing periods, and the 2025-26 FAFSA is working “end-to-end.” ED has resolved a set of known issues and implemented fixes to enhance the functionality and user experience of the 2025-26 FAFSA. Updates to users and stakeholders about the 2025-26 FAFSA are currently posted on the Beta Central website.
According to ED, more than 14,000 students have successfully submitted the 2025-26 FAFSA so far. The department has processed those students’ FAFSAs and sent over 81,000 ISIRs to over 1,850 institutions and 43 states.
“More than 14,000 students have already submitted 2025-26 FAFSA forms, and we have successfully processed them and sent them to colleges, universities, and state agencies across the country,” said Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal in a statement. “Allowing more students to access the FAFSA form is the final state of beta testing as we prepare to officially launch the form no later than Dec. 1.”
NASFAA will remain in direct communication with members in the following days, and encourages members to share any observations they see or feedback they receive concerning useability and user experience with the 2025-26 FAFSA.
As a reminder, students and families can prepare now for the 2025-26 FAFSA launch by following the key steps outlined by NASFAA.
Publication Date: 11/14/2024
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