The Department of Education has opened the 2025-26 school year Free Application for Federal Student Aid, 10 days earlier than the original opening date of December 1. It is now available both online and in a paper form.
The FAFSA is a form that the families of current and incoming college students fill out so that the federal government, the state, and colleges can evaluate how much financial aid they’re eligible for. This determines things like federal student loans, institutional financial aid, grants, and even some merit-based scholarships.
While the financial aid form is typically available beginning on October 1, the DOE delayed that start date this year to work out some of the kinks that caused issues last year. When the FAFSA underwent major changes intended to streamline the process for the 2024-25 form, it resulted in significant delays and technical problems that left students and families frustrated.
To avoid the same struggles, the DOE carried out four rounds of beta testing of this year’s form, starting on October 1, which allowed 167,000 students to fill it out early and submit their feedback. The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria was among the first organizations to test the form.
“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,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in a news release.
How to Submit
To complete this year’s form, the student and any contributors (such as parents, guardians, or spouses) will need to create an account on StudentAid.gov, known as an FSA ID.
Students need to have a Social Security number to create an account, but if a contributor does not have a SSN, they can still create an account and fill out their portion of the form.
Information to have on hand before filling out the FAFSA includes tax returns, records of child support received, current balances of any bank accounts, and the net worth of investments, businesses, or farms. Contributors’ federal tax information will be directly transferred from the IRS to the FAFSA form; if they do not consent to this, the student will not be eligible for student aid.
To provide more support for families filling out the form, the DOE increased staffing at the FSA Information Center by 80 percent. There are also new and updated online information materials to provide support, such as tips for how to create an FSA ID, a student aid estimator, and a YouTube channel with plenty of informational videos.
The 2025-2026 form doesn’t close until June 30, 2026, but it’s best to fill out the FAFSA as soon as possible, as most colleges and states have their own deadlines. Virginia’s deadline is listed as “ASAP After December 31, 2024.”
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
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