2025-26 FAFSA Beta Testing Opens to All Students
By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter
The Department of Education (ED) on Monday announced that beta testing for the 2025-26 FAFSA has officially expanded to all students, meaning that any student and their contributors will be able to complete the form ahead of the application’s planned December 1 launch date.
Last week, ED detailed its plan for the fourth and final round of beta testing for the 2025-26 FAFSA with an “Expanded Beta 4” testing period. As of Monday, November 18, students and their families can now access the 2025-26 FAFSA on the Federal Student Aid (FSA) website.
Additionally, institutions will continue to receive Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) from students – and will likely begin receiving a higher volume of ISIRs during this expanded testing period.
During the “Expanded Beta 4” testing period, the department is monitoring FAFSA system performance and support operations – such as the call center – and will “adjust operations as needed.”
According to ED, this “Expanded Beta 4” testing period allows the department to test the FAFSA system with higher volumes of users than previous periods, and enables ED to find and resolve errors that may occur.
During this period, some students may opt to submit their FAFSA as part of the “Expanded Beta 4” testing period, or they may choose to wait until the FAFSA is officially launched by December 1. If a student decides to wait to fill out the form, they can prepare by following these key steps outlined by NASFAA, which include signing up for an FSA ID.
Once ED has determined the FAFSA system is “operating smoothly” with a large number of users, the department will end all beta testing and announce the official, full release of the 2025-26 FAFSA, by December 1.
In response to last week’s announcement, NASFAA created a questions and answers resource to help members understand this new expanded testing phase and what it means for their students and institutions.
NASFAA Interim President & CEO Beth Maglione in a statement last week welcomed the expanded beta testing, noting that the “rollout of the 2025-26 FAFSA has been transparent and tracked ahead of their scheduled December 1 launch date.”
“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,” Maglione said in a statement.
Publication Date: 11/18/2024
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