What's
really going on with this year's FAFSA
It’s been well disseminated by now that the 2025-26 FAFSA will not be available until December 1st. On-going backend issues with the 2024-25 FAFSA well into the summer caused financial aid offices and college access professionals to petition
the Education Department (ED) for a delay to ensure a “fully functional” FAFSA for all students. ED responded to this request, committing to the FAFSA with full, end-to-end functionality for all on December 1, 2024.
Doesn’t the FAFSA open on October 1st in a phased rollout?
“Phased rollout” is another term for a “controlled testing period.” Phase 1, starting on October 1st,
limits access and testing to six CBOs with about 100 students each. Additional test groups of schools are now being selected by ED for Phases 2-4. The number of students in each additional phase is expected to grow to over 1,000 in Beta 2 and over 10,000 in Betas 3 and 4.
Will the FAFSA be widely available on December 1st?
The big question: will this be enough testing to nail the December 1st launch? The financial aid community believes that the FAFSA will be available for all applicants on December 1. However, there is skepticism as to whether it
will be bug-free and work seamlessly for all students, like those whose parents do not have a Social Security Number (SSN) for identity verification.
What’s changing for the 2025-26 FAFSA?
Given the persistent instability on the backend, ED
has decided not to make major changes to this year’s FAFSA. Their focus is on potential rewording and updated instructions for some problematic areas, like asking a student if they only want to be considered for the Unsubsidized Direct Student Loan.
Gratefully, for students with parent contributors without an SSN, ED has decided to extend the exemption for manual identity verification
for the 2025-26 cycle.
Given the delay, what can students and families do today?
Families should prepare for the December 1st open date. Here are some key actions
families can take now to be set up for success:
- Create Federal Student Aid (FSA) IDs. There is no need to wait to set up accounts with Federal Student Aid. I’ve written a short article to help parents
know which parent needs to create an FSA ID with step-by-step video instructions.
- Check FAFSA submission deadlines. Research and document each college’s submission requirements and deadlines given the December 1 launch. Also, verify any additional forms or applications a college may require because of the delay.
- Calculate their 2025-26 Student Aid
Index. Eligibility doesn’t have to be a mystery until the FAFSA is submitted in December. Students can use the updated 2025-26 FAFSA SAI Calculator to get their Student Aid Index, a determining number for their need-based aid eligibility for next
year.
What does this delay mean for the CSS Profile?
The 2025-26 CSS Profile is already live for those families that want a real head start.
College Board updated the list of colleges requiring the CSS Profile for the 2025-26 award year. Surprisingly, as of today, only 8 new colleges have adopted the Profile
for domestic students, growing the list from 156 to 164 undergraduate institutions. These include: Loyola University Maryland, Muhlenberg College, University of Scranton and University of Vermont.
It seems the promise of a shorter, easier application - the CSS Profile Lite - remains a promise. When a student selects their colleges for Profile
submission, if just one requires the standard Profile, then the student and family have to complete the long version.
