The 2025-26 FAFSA Has Launched! What You Need To Know

The 2025-26 FAFSA has officially launched and it’s now available online and on paper for all families and students. What appears to be a smooth rollout is welcome news after last year’s troubled release. This post recaps the important changes made to the FAFSA last year, gets you caught up on this year’s rollout, and has helpful information for how to access the FAFSA, about customer support, and alternatives for international students.

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After last year’s failed launch, students, parents, financial aid officers, and FAFSA watchers in the Department of Education and in schools around the US have been anxiously awaiting the release of this year’s (2025-26) FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

Well, the day has arrived. After a month of limited access and beta testing, the 2025-26 FAFSA has officially launched — appears to be working — and is now available to all students.

The Release of the 2025-26 FAFSA: Good News for Students

What appears to be the successful launch of the 2025-26 FAFSA is good news for students and their families. Although the form this year (like last year) was not available in October, giving students less time to prepare it, it is fully available now, as of November 21st, 2024.

The other good new is that it seems to be rolling out with almost no major glitches — unlike last year!

Why This Matters for Students

If you're applying to college for the first time, you may not have even heard of the FAFSA before. So what is it, and why does it matter?

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is the uniform federal financial aid application for US students applying to public and private colleges and universities in the US. In addition to qualifying students for Pell Grants, federally subsidized student loans, and other need-based federal student aid funding, it's also used by many schools to determine which students have the greatest financial need, and who will be recipients of institutional need-based scholarships.

The federal deadline for submitting the 2025-26 FAFSA is June 30, 2026. However, most school and state deadlines come much sooner, so be sure to keep yourself apprised of those — many institutions have deadlines in the spring of 2025. Also, applying as early as possible is often recommended, since some sources of aid may be dispersed on a first-come-first-serve basis and only until funds run out.

A Snapshot of Recent FAFSA Changes, Trials, and Tribulations…

For those who don’t know about last year’s FAFSA debacle, it may be hard to appreciate why this year’s so far successful launch is such good news. So, in case you missed it… Here’s a quick recap of the past year's FAFSA odyssey:

Last year (2024-25) the FAFSA made big headlines — more than once…

• first thanks to undergoing some highly anticipated and significant changes
• then due to a delayed launch — many weeks after the standard October 1st release date
• and then because of a glitch-filled release (due to software limitations) preventing many students from accessing and submitting their forms on time — delays that the head of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling called “catastrophic” in an interview with NBC News.

This year the US Department of Education has been working hard to avoid last year’s missteps, using most of the month of October to slog through “beta” testing in limited markets.

On November 18th, the advanced beta version of the form was made available to all students.

On Wednesday, November 20th, Inside Higher Ed reported that more than 50,000 FAFSA forms had been completed since November 18th, and 100,000 forms had been partially completed.

On Thursday, November 21st, the Education Department officially released the 2025-26 FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), ten days ahead of its December 1st target date.

The 2025-26 FAFSA — Any Glitches on the Horizon?

It may be too soon to tell for sure, but for now there are no big news stories about technical problems like those that plagued the FAFSA last year. on November 21st, the Education Department confirmed it is processing submitted forms successfully and sending them to schools.

Colleges also seem to be experiencing a smooth rollout, according to reporting from Inside Higher Ed:

Colleges say that so far, the system is working with relatively few hitches. The University of Illinois Chicago helped the department test the FAFSA over the past month. In that time it received 1,200 student forms and has already processed about two-thirds of them.

The American Association of Community Colleges also reported being encouraged by the results of the beta testing as they monitor the ongoing rollout.

Ready To Create a FAFSA Account and Get Started?

For accessing the FAFSA online, a good place to start is by creating an account (if you don’t have one already).

Students need a social security number and an email address to create their account and begin filling out a FAFSA, but those listed as financial contributors are not required to have a social security number.

Before filling out your FAFSA, it’s helpful to gather the documents you’re likely to need — find a list of commonly needed documents here.

Why Getting FAFSA Help Is Easier This Year

The Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid has beefed up its customer support services, adding many more customer and technical support agents as well as expanded call center hours that include weekend hours this year:

FAFSA Customer Support: 1-800-433-3243

The FAFSA and International Students

Non-US residents will not typically fill out the FAFSA, and typically can’t do so because the student is required to have a social security number.

Undocumented US residents — according to studentaid.gov:

• It’s a good idea to check with your high school counselor or the financial aid office at your prospective college to determine if you should complete the FAFSA.
• Your social security number is needed to create and access your studentaid.gov (FAFSA) account.
• Be sure to indicate your status on the required citizenship question included on the FAFSA.
• Get more information here.

More Resources for noncitizens and international students:

• Learn situations where  noncitizens may be eligible for financial aid from the U.S. federal government.
• Questions about student visas? Consult the U.S. embassy website for your country for specific application instructions.
• Want to know more about the application forms for international students? Check out these resources:
  • CSS Profile (College Scholarship Service Profile)
  • ISFAA (International Student Financial Aid Application)  – Check with your prospective college or university for information.

Stay Tuned…

Be sure to visit with us again soon, and keep watching our blog pages for other admissions news and to explore other valuable insights for your college journey.

Have questions about financial aid? Want to find out more about our proven, success-driven approach to personalized admissions advising?

Reach out today and schedule a free consultation with a friendly admissions strategist!

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