USED: Resources to Assist with Preparation for the 2025-26 FAFSA Cycle
November 05, 2024
USED shared an update on resources available to help schools, families and students ahead of the 2025-26 FAFSA cycle. Their latest Electronic Announcement includes information about new and updated resources for institutions, state aid agencies, software vendors, supporting organizations, and students and families as they begin their preparations for the 2025–26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) cycle. It also includes information about recent technical fixes to the FAFSA form and system. The Department is on track to make the 2025–26 FAFSA form broadly available by Dec. 1.
New and Updated Resources for the 2025–26 FAFSA Cycle: In preparation for increased activity once the 2025–26 FAFSA form is broadly available by Dec. 1, USED has been applying lessons learned from both the FAFSA Beta period and 2024–25 cycle to make improvements to the resources and contact centers used by students and families. These improvements include updates to the Aiden® virtual assistant to reflect 2025–26 information. They also include investments in training and staffing levels at the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC), including an increase in the number of agents by more than 80% and the addition of evening and Saturday hours during the first few months that the 2025–26 FAFSA form is broadly available.
USED is pleased to announce the availability of the following resources—released throughout the fall—that will assist partners in preparing for and navigating the 2025–26 FAFSA cycle:
- 2025–26 FAFSA Roadmap—Highlights key dates for the FAFSA form launch, as well as timelines for the release of resources to assist our partners.
- 2025–26 FAFSA Preview Presentation—Provides financial aid administrators, advisors The presentation deck contains screenshots that highlight changes to the online 2025–26 FAFSA form.
- 2025–26 FAFSA Prototype—Provides the financial aid community an advance opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the FAFSA user experience ahead of its broad release.
- Federal Student Aid Estimator—Provides an estimate of the 2025–26 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Federal Pell Grant eligibility calculation.
- “Who’s the Parent on the FAFSA Form?” Wizard—A new, stand-alone tool to help students and families determine who will need to provide contributor information on the 2025–26 FAFSA form prior to starting the application.
- “Creating Your StudentAid.gov Account” Page—A new resource that explains everything families and partners need to know about creating a StudentAid.gov account.
- Pro Tips for Completing the FAFSA Form—Updated tips for preparing to fill out and submitting the FAFSA form. This resource will also be linked from the StudentAid.gov Dashboard to promote easier access for students and their required contributor(s).
- Federal Student Aid YouTube Channel: FAFSA Videos—Updated videos to help students and families understand the importance of the FAFSA form, who is a FAFSA contributor, and what happens after submitting the form.
- Test Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) Data Files—Additional datasets for use in the development and testing of student aid system software.
Additional resources and training to support the administration of the Title IV programs may be found on the Knowledge Center’s FAFSA Simplification Information page. Updated information and outreach tools for counselors, college access professionals, and other advisors may be found on the Financial Aid Toolkit. And information and updates about FAFSA Beta testing can be found on the Beta Central website.
Upcoming Webinar: USED will host FAFSA: Preparing for 2025–26 and Updates on 2024–25 from 3 to 4 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, Nov. 8. The webinar will provide current information about 2024–25 FAFSA processing, an update about the 2025–26 FAFSA Beta testing, and information to help partners prepare for the general availability of the 2025–26 FAFSA form by Dec. 1.
Technical Fixes: USED recently implemented technical fixes to a set of bugs identified during the 2024–25 cycle and during the FAFSA Beta testing period. In addition to resolving known issues, these updates enhance the user experience and improve functionality of the FAFSA form for both the 2024–25 and 2025–26 cycles. Fixes include addressing issues that, among others, required students and their contributors to re-sign forms in certain situations; required applicants to provide assets on an initial application when they were not required; prevented students from seeing an invitation from a contributor to complete the form; and made it challenging for users with a military address to submit a FAFSA form. In addition, the fixes improved security and internal tracking processes.
In the weeks leading up to the general availability date, USED will continue to prioritize the resolution of issues that block form submission or impact student eligibility for federal student aid programs. USED will continue to list issues and provide status updates on the FAFSA Issue Alerts page and in the Technical Frequently Asked Questions and Known Issues guide and bug fixes will be reflected in these resources in the coming days.
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