The U.S. Department of Education has commenced the second phase of testing, Beta 2, for the 2025–26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This follows a successful Beta 1 phase where hundreds of students across the nation submitted their FAFSA forms without encountering major issues.
During the initial testing stage, community-based organizations assisted in facilitating student submissions. The Department processed these applications and institutions accessed the records sent to them. Students were also able to make corrections to their forms. "Our goal in this first stage of testing was to submit and process FAFSA forms for 100 students so that we could ensure the process worked as expected. Instead, we had more than six times that number of students and we were able to see the forms move from submission to processing – and even corrections – without any major issues," stated FAFSA Executive Advisor Jeremy Singer.
Department staff observed events in cities such as Birmingham, Alabama; Santa Barbara, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Dallas, Texas; and Alexandria, Virginia. These events saw over 650 students successfully submitting applications and generating more than 6,000 Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs).
U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal expressed gratitude towards participants by saying: “On behalf of the Department of Education, I want to offer a huge thank you to all of the students, family members, counselors, financial aid experts, and others participating in the testing process."
Beta 2 will involve collaboration with 16 organizations recruiting thousands of students from diverse backgrounds including first-generation students and mixed-status families. For this phase, half of these organizations are higher education institutions that will engage returning students in beta testing.
The Department aims for transparency throughout this process by sharing detailed information about beta testing on FAFSA.gov/beta.
In preparation for the upcoming FAFSA cycle starting December 1st or earlier, updated resources are available including a Financial Aid Toolkit for school counselors and college access professionals. Additionally, real-time updates on known issues are accessible through a dedicated page alongside informative videos explaining various aspects related to completing FAFSA forms.
