Tip of the Week

Some students will have an opportunity to complete the 2026-27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) early.

Federal Student Aid (FSA) announced that the 2026-27 FAFSA is currently open to a limited number of students and contributors in their early testing phase. The form will then be available to everyone by October 1.

 The two phases of beta testing include:

• August 2025 – Testing with a small number of students and families through partnerships with community organizations, schools, and other groups.
• September 2025 – Anyone can request to participate in the second phase of testing.

The testing phase allows FSA to monitor a limited number of FAFSA submissions to ensure their systems are working as they should.

You can’t join the beta yet, although once the first phase of testing ends in August 2025, anyone can request access. FSA will invite participants, as needed, until the testing ends. The second phase of testing will include more participants, but not everyone who requests access will be invited to join.

To stay updated on the beta testing and launch of the FAFSA, FSA will update this page in September when the second phase of beta testing starts and in October when the FAFSA officially launches. Schools may want to include a link to the page on their website.

FSA will provide updates on the 2026-27 FAFSA through their various social media platforms in addition to sending an email to students (and parents of dependent students) who completed the 2025-26 FAFSA to remind them to apply for 2026-27.

– By Marlene Seeklander