U.S. Department of Education Announces Schedule and New Process to Launch 2025-26 FAFSA Form

The U.S. Department of Education has announced that the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA® form) will be launched through a new process. Starting on October 1, the department will release the 2025-26 FAFSA form for testing with a limited set of students and institutions. The department will make the application available to all students on or before December 1. This process is informed by conversations and feedback from thousands of students, institutions, and other stakeholders.

Volunteers will be invited to participate in the testing period, and over time the form will be made available to an increasing number of participants, starting with hundreds and expanding to tens of thousands of applicants. This process will allow the department to test and resolve issues before making the form available to all students and contributors. Using this approach, full functionality, including submission and back-end processing at the same time.

“Following a challenging 2024-25 FAFSA cycle, the department listened carefully to the input of students, families, and higher education institutions, made substantial changes to leadership and operations at Federal Student Aid, and is taking a new approach this year that will significantly improve the FAFSA experience,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

“Thanks to the partnership of our stakeholders, we’ve developed a better implementation process for 2025-26.

"I look forward to continuing to work with our partners to ensure this school year’s FAFSA implementation better serves our nation’s students.”

The goal of the phased rollout of the 2025-26 FAFSA form, consistent with software industry best-practices, is to work with limited groups of users to identify and resolve the kind of system errors that can derail millions of students and contributors and thousands of colleges. A phased rollout will also allow the department to incorporate user feedback to ensure the application’s instructions are clear and easy-to-use for students and contributors and provide resources for the community that supports students and families.