All students can access the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Financial Aid as of Monday, Nov 18, as the U.S. Department of Education begins its final testing phase for the form, to ensure it has worked out all of the bugs that plagued the form last year. ED said last week it hoped to have the form open to all ahead of its self-imposed December 1 deadline. The final beta test will ensure the form functions correctly, with a higher number of users–approximately 17 million students use FAFSA to apply for financial aid each year.
This year has been rough for financial aid applicants, their families and financial aid offices. The FAFSA usually becomes available on Oct. 1, but the 2024-25 version was delayed until Dec. 31 last year following problems with the form and tED’s underlying IT infrastructure. Even once the form opened, it was plagued with errors, leading to deep frustrations among colleges, students and families
FAFSA delays resulted in students having less time to review their financial aid offers and decide where to enroll and likely contributed to the drop in college enrollment from certain populations this year. ED scrambled resources to try and support students and colleges, but many were still left struggling.
Thankfully, it is starting to look like this year’s FAFSA launch will go more smoothly.
What Is FAFSA And Why Were There So Many Problems This Year?
Prospective college students must complete the FAFSA to qualify for federal financial aid, including Pell Grants, the main federal grant used to pay for college. After completing the form, students are assigned a Student Aid Index number, which determines what types of financial aid they are eligible for and how much they can receive. The lower the SAI number, the more aid students get. States and colleges also use the FAFSA to decide how much support students receive from state and institutional aid programs..
The delays this year stemmed from form changes required by the FAFSA Simplification Act. The new law, passed Dec. 2020, requires the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid to (among other things) significantly reduce in the number of questions students and their families had to answer, as well as update many of the underlying calculations that determine eligibility for Pell grants, increasing the number of students eligible. These changes should make the financial aid application simpler for students and their families in the long run, but were more complicated and took longer than expected to complete.
Will FAFSA Work Better This Year?
The Education Department has gone to great lengths to avoid its past FAFSA mistakes, including not trying to rush to meet the traditional Oct. 1 deadline.
Initially ED promised it would release this year’s form on Oct. 1, in spite of concerns it might not be ready. Thankfully ED listened to financial aid administrators, who had begged the department to focus on a smooth launch, rather than attempting one by Oct. 1 this year.. Administrators argued it was better to have the form come out later, but have it functional, than go through another year of chaos.
A financial aid director involved in the beta testing, who spoke anonymously to discuss their college’s operations said almost all the errors that plagued the system last year have been resolved. They also said that ED endeavored to get FAFSA right this year, sending multiple officials to attend testing events in person, and listening to feedback from financial aid officers.
It will take a much smoother financial aid process this year to rebuild trust from families and financial aid administrators that ED has put the time and effort into fixing FAFSA. Early signs suggest the department has put in the necessary effort.
What Can Students Do To Prepare To Submit Their FAFSA?
For students and their families planning to apply for financial aid this year, now is the time to set up a Federal Student Aid ID, the login information you need to submit a FAFSA. Students and any parents or guardians who are filling out the form need their own FSA ID. It is worth taking the time to set up an ID now, even for students who plan to wait a few weeks before submitting their applications.