ED Completes Beta Testing and Launches 2025-26 FAFSA
By Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Managing Editor
The Department of Education (ED) officially launched the 2025-26 FAFSA on Thursday after completing an extensive testing process. Students and families will now also be able to access and submit a paper form.
According to the department, more than 140,000 students submitted an online application for the 2025-26 FAFSA during its four-stage beta testing period, with ED processing records for more than 5,200 schools across all states. The department also collected applications from various student groups, including those who faced challenges during the 2024-25 application process and engaged with different institutions, software vendors, state agencies, and federal partners to test FAFSA data.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said that all students can now fill out the 2025-26 FAFSA and begin the financial aid process in a live environment.
“After months of hard work and lots of feedback from students, schools, and other stakeholders, we can say with confidence that FAFSA is working and will serve as the gateway to college access and affordability to millions of students,” Cardona said. “Already, over 650,000 more applicants are eligible for Pell Grants, and more students are receiving Pell Grants, this school year compared to last year.”
The launch of the form in a live environment follows a slightly delayed launch process for the FAFSA from the usual October 1 release date. Following last year’s rollout, which saw significant delays throughout the entire process, the department said they have succeeded in meeting the planned launch date of “on or before” December 1.
In response to Thursday’s announcement NASFAA Interim President & CEO Beth Maglione said that the department’s approach to launching the 2025-26 FAFSA has been proactive and followed, ahead of schedule, planned implementation timelines.
“Comprehensive platform testing for 2025-26 appears to have mitigated some of the issues seen in last year's bumpy rollout of the redesigned ‘Better FAFSA,’" Maglione said in a statement.” The work, however, is far from complete. In the weeks and months ahead, we will closely monitor the resolution of outstanding FAFSA functionality issues deferred to future updates.”
To meet the anticipated traffic of students filling out their FAFSAs, ED has increased staffing at the Federal Student Aid Information Center. Since January, the contact center has added more than 700 agents, and over the next few weeks, an additional 225 agents will be added to assist in ongoing surge support.
However, ED cautions students and families that wait times may temporarily be longer than usual during some surge call periods.
Following today’s official launch of the 2025-26 FAFSA ED will monitor the form and contact center to make any adjustments needed to improve the application experience for students and families, as well as the financial aid community.
“Our comprehensive beta testing with community-based organizations, high schools and school districts, colleges and universities, software vendors, and state agencies across the country follows industry best practices and has given us the confidence that our systems are ready,” said FAFSA Executive Advisor Jeremy Singer.
ED will begin processing paper forms by early December.
According to the department, in the coming months, they will also enhance user experience and release additional functionality – which will include batch corrections and paper corrections – in an effort to facilitate a smoother process for students, families, and institutions.
ED has also released updated resources and materials to help students and families navigate the application process.
Stay tuned to Today’s News for more coverage of the FAFSA application process.
Publication Date: 11/22/2024
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