U.S. Department of Education begins testing new FAFSA
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday will launch the first test period of its phased rollout of Form 2025-26 to apply for federal student financial aid, with more students than initially expected taking part.
department announced in august It will start in a staggered manner 2025-26 Apply for Federal Student Aid for Free – or FAFSA – in order to resolve any issues that may arise before the form becomes available to everyone by December 1st. start.
The phased rollout puts the forms two months later than usual before they are fully available, and the 2024-25 form — which was revamped after Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in late 2020 — faces a series of well-publicized issues. The department has been working to address these issues.
Closer to 1,000 students instead of 100
In early September, the department Six community organizations announced Selected to participate in the first testing period: May, Alabama; Bridge 2 Life, Florida; AIM Academy, Georgia; Education is Freedom, Texas; Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation, California; and Alexandria Scholarship Fund, Virginia.
“Thanks to the wonderful organization, we expect the Beta 1 number to be closer to 1,000 students than the We originally imagined 100 people.
During the first testing phase, U.S. Department of Education Deputy Secretary James Kvaal said the department will process students’ FAFSAs, “give students an opportunity to make corrections, if needed, and send the records to colleges and state agencies.”
“When colleges need to provide financial aid, they will be able to use these same records,” said Koval, who oversees higher education and financial aid, including the Office of Federal Student Aid.
There are three testing periods left
The department on Monday also designated 78 community organizations, government entities, high schools, school districts and higher education institutions to participate in the next three testing periods of the 2025-26 form.
Three community organizations selected to participate in the first testing period – Bridge 2 Life in Florida; Education is Free in Texas; and the Alexandria Scholarship Fund in Virginia – will also participate in subsequent testing phases.
To help students and families prepare for the 2025-26 application cycle, the department said it will release a revised application this week Federal Student Aid Estimatorupdated resources for building StudentAid.Gov Accountincluding the Parent Guide and an updated prototype for the 2025-26 FAFSA.
Last week, the department released a report outlines 10 steps it has taken Improving the FAFSA application process. Part of those efforts includes the department beefing up its leadership team to work on addressing families who don’t have Social Security numbers when filling out forms, and providers adding more than 700 new call center agents.
