Planning for the upcoming 2025-26 FAFSA cycle may be a little easier with some new resources from the Department of Education.
The Department announced this week that new and updated resources are available to schools, software vendors, supporting agencies, and students and families to help them prepare for the 2025-26 FAFSA cycle. The 2025-26 FAFSA is scheduled to be available by December 1.
New and updated resources to help navigate the 2025-26 FAFSA include:
- 2025–26 FAFSA Roadmap
- 2025–26 FAFSA Preview Presentation
- 2025–26 FAFSA Prototype
- Federal Student Aid Estimator
- “Who’s the Parent on the FAFSA Form?” Wizard
- “Creating Your StudentAid.gov Account” Page
- Pro Tips for Completing the FAFSA Form
- Federal Student Aid YouTube Channel: FAFSA Videos
- Test Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) Data Files
Additional resources are available on the FAFSA Simplification Information page of the Knowledge Center, the Financial Aid Toolkit, and on the Beta Central website.
An upcoming webinar, FAFSA: Preparing for 2025–26 and Updates on 2024–25, will be held on Friday, November 8 from 3-4 p.m. (Eastern time). The Department will provide information on the 2024-25 FAFSA processing cycle, an update on the 2025-26 FAFSA Beta testing, and information to prepare for the release of the 2025-26 FAFSA on December 1.
The announcement also outlines the technical fixes implemented by the Department. Status updates are available on the FAFSA Issue Alerts page and in the Technical Frequently Asked Questions and Known Issues guide.
The Department encourages its partners to use the Contact Customer Support form in FSA’s Partner Connect Help Center to submit questions. The FAFSA Help Center is available to students and families with FAFSA questions.
