By Marlene Seeklander Schools and interested stakeholders can find updates on the 2025-26 FAFSA BETA testing by going to one central location. The Department of Education is providing updates to the BETA testing process at https://fsapartners.ed.gov/beta/Updates. Listed by date, with the newest information appearing at the top, schools and stakeholders can find updates on such topics […]
BETA Updates Page for 2025-26 FAFSA Read More »
By Catherine Mueller Scholarships are the best kind of financial aid, but students should be careful to avoid scams. Because so many students are looking for scholarships, there are, unfortunately, a lot of bad actors that want to take advantage of these students. Therefore, it’s important to be careful and make sure the scholarship offer is
Tips for avoiding scholarship scams Read More »
By Catherine Mueller Although students and parents won’t be able to apply for financial aid until December, you can get ready by setting up a StudentAid.gov account. Setting up an account at StudentAid.gov, is also known as creating an FSA ID, which is the username and password for the account. When setting up an account, here
Tips for creating an FSA ID Read More »
By Catherine Mueller Students are completing the beta-test version of the 2025-26 FAFSA without encountering any critical errors and students are receiving the records of those students. Along with sharing the results of the first round of the 2025-26 FAFSA beta tests, the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday announced the launch of the second stage of
First round of 2025-26 FAFSA testing is complete, no major problems found Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander You can make a note on your 2025-26 planning list to check out the recent additions to the 2025-26 FAFSA Specifications Guide. The Department of Education recently announced the addition of two volumes to the 2025-26 FAFSA Specifications Guide. These volumes include: Throughout the 2025-26 cycle, the Knowledge Center website will be updated
Updates to 2025-26 FAFSA Specifications Guide Read More »
By Catherine Mueller Although students and parents won’t be able to apply for financial aid until December, there are some things you can do in the meantime to prepare. The U.S. Department of Education announced several weeks ago that it would not release the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) until December 1. In
Five tips to complete this important FAFSA first step Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander In an effort to improve communication with schools and colleges, the Department of Education recently sent an update to key leadership at postsecondary institutions, outlining their work to improve the FAFSA. On September 23, the Department announced that Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona sent a letter to presidents and chancellors to provide an
Secretary of Education letter on improving the FAFSA experience Read More »
By Catherine Mueller Students seeking financial aid for the 2025-26 academic year should plan to complete the FAFSA after December 1, 2024. Normally, the FAFSA is released on October 1, but the U.S. Department of Education is delaying the release of the FAFSA to have time for more testing. The testing is aimed at avoiding some
Students can complete the 2025-26 FAFSA in December Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander Schools, colleges, and organizations can now apply to be a part of the next couple of rounds of testing for the 2025-26 FAFSA. The Department of Education announced that community-based organizations, high schools, school districts representing multiple schools, county and state organizations, and higher education institutions can submit an interest form to participate
Another opportunity to test the 2025-26 FAFSA now available Read More »
By Marlene Seeklander More tools are available for your 2025-26 award year planning. A recent Dear Colleague Letter from the Department details the changes in verification for 2025-26 and provides suggested text for schools to use. According to the Department, the verification process for 2025-26 is essentially unchanged. Federal tax information (FTI) transferred via the FA-DDX
2025-2026 FAFSA information to be verified and acceptable documentation Read More »
