The U.S. Department of Education (Department) today officially released the 2025–26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®), 10 days before its Dec. 1 goal. The online FAFSA form is available to all students and families at fafsa.gov, and the Department is processing submissions and sending them to schools. The paper form is also now available for students to submit.
Over the last several months, the Department has incorporated feedback from students, parents, schools, community-based organizations, and other partners into the FAFSA process and comprehensively tested the FAFSA form, system, and user supports at scale through a rigorous beta testing period. Since Oct. 1, through four rounds of testing, more than 167,000 students have submitted the online 2025–26 application; the Department has processed these forms and sent records to more than 5,200 schools across all states. The Department also tested the application with a variety of student groups—including those who faced particular challenges last year—and engaged with different colleges and universities, software vendors, state agencies, and federal partners to test FAFSA data and systems.
"I'm pleased to announce that after four successful rounds of beta testing, the 2025–26 FAFSA form is now available to all students and families,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “After months of hard work and lots of feedback from students, schools, and other stakeholders, we can say with confidence that FAFSA is working and will serve as the gateway to college access and affordability to millions of students. Already, over 650,000 more applicants are eligible for Pell Grants, and more students are receiving Pell Grants, this school year compared to last year. We stand ready to help millions more students complete the FAFSA and get the financial aid they need to pursue their dreams of a college education.”
The Department has taken steps to modernize internal systems and processes, address issues in the FAFSA system, and put in place features that further enhance the user experience and improve functionality of the form. In addition, the Department released and updated resources and materials to help students and families better navigate the FAFSA form and process.
“We need a better FAFSA form to deliver financial aid to students going to college and other forms of education after high school,” said U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal. “Thank you to everyone who has helped the 2025–26 FAFSA launch successfully and ahead of schedule, including students and families, Department staff, and financial aid administrators and counselors across the country.”
For those who need additional assistance, the Department significantly increased staffing at the Federal Student Aid Information Center (contact center) by adding more than 700 agents since January and an additional 225 agents over the next few weeks for ongoing surge support. In anticipation of high demand as part of the official release of the FAFSA form, this week, the Department added extended FAFSA-only weeknight and Saturday contact center hours. Despite that, the Department cautions users that, during some surge periods, callers may temporarily experience longer than usual wait times. The Department will continue to add agents in the coming weeks to further support the 2025–26 FAFSA cycle.
“The 2025–26 FAFSA form that we officially released today is the same form that has been live for the past 7 weeks for the more than 140,000 students who successfully submitted applications. Our comprehensive beta testing with community-based organizations, high schools and school districts, colleges and universities, software vendors, and state agencies across the country follows industry best practices and has given us the confidence that our systems are ready,” said FAFSA Executive Advisor Jeremy Singer.
The FAFSA form and system are in a strong position, but the Department will continue working to ensure every student has the help they need to access higher education. In the coming days and weeks, the Department will carefully monitor the 2025–26 FAFSA form, as well as the contact center, and make any needed adjustments to improve the experience for students, families, and the financial aid community. The Department will begin processing paper forms by early December. In the coming months, the Department will further enhance the user experience and release additional functionality, including batch corrections and paper corrections, to facilitate a smoother process for students, families, and institutions.
The Department looks forward to continuing its work with partners to ensure that all students and their families can easily access the FAFSA form, have timely and clear information, and can quickly complete the application and access aid.
Additional Resources for Students, Families, and Partners
The Department has taken actions to significantly improve the Federal Student Aid Information Center’s contact center experience for students, families, and institutions, including to support the official release of the 2025–26 FAFSA form. These improvements include: Increasing staffing by nearly 80%. Since January, we have added more than 700 agents to the contact center.
Coordinating with the vendor team to ensure all agents, including those typically assigned to back-office processing, are trained on FAFSA to allow for an "all hands on deck" approach if needed.
Adding 225 agents over the next few weeks, in addition to the 700 agents who have already been added, for ongoing surge support, enabling extended hours of operation.
Implementing hold time announcements to inform callers of current wait times, giving them the option to hold or call back during less busy hours.
In addition to normal operating hours, found on StudentAid.gov, students and families will have access to FAFSA-only hours at the contact center that include evenings and weekends. The expanded hours begin Nov. 22, 2024 and will extend through Mar. 2, 2025. Students and families can reach agents at the contact center in English or in Spanish. Interpretation services in additional languages can be accessed here at StudentAid.gov.
Day(s) Regular Contact Center Hours FAFSA-only Support Hours
Monday 8 a.m.–9 p.m. ET Available until 10 p.m. ET
Tuesday & Wednesday 8 a.m.–8 p.m. ET Available until 10 p.m. ET
Thursday & Friday 8 a.m.–6 p.m. ET Available until 10 p.m. ET
Saturday Closed Noon–5 p.m. ET
Sunday Closed Closed
Notes: The contact center is closed on all federal holidays. On Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, the contact center will operate during regular hours and will not provide expanded FAFSA-only support hours.
The Department has recently released a suite of resources to assist students and families in completing and submitting the FAFSA form during the 2025–26 cycle, including:“Who’s the Parent on the FAFSA Form?” Wizard—A new, stand-alone tool to help students and families determine who will need to provide contributor information on the 2025–26 FAFSA form prior to starting the application.
“Creating Your StudentAid.gov Account” Page—A new resource that explains what families and partners need to know about creating a StudentAid.gov account.
Pro Tips for Completing the FAFSA Form—Updated tips for preparing to complete and submit the FAFSA form. This resource will also be linked from the StudentAid.gov Dashboard to promote easier access for students and their required contributor(s).
Federal Student Aid Estimator—The tool provides an estimate of the 2025–26 Student Aid Index and Federal Pell Grant eligibility calculation.
Federal Student Aid YouTube Channel: FAFSA Videos—Updated videos to help students and families understand the importance of the FAFSA form, who is a FAFSA contributor, and what happens after submitting the form.
Throughout the fall, the Department has released resources to assist our partners to help students and families prepare for and navigate the 2025–26 FAFSA cycle, including: 2025–26 Counselor Resource for Completing the FAFSA Form—The resource provides counselors and advisors with information and resources to help guide students and their families through the FAFSA form.
2025–26 FAFSA Roadmap—The tool highlights key dates for the FAFSA form launch, as well as timelines for the release of resources to assist our partners.
2025–26 FAFSA Preview Presentation—The resource provides financial aid administrators, advisors, and counselors with reference tools for staff trainings and financial aid nights. The presentation deck contains screenshots which highlight changes to the online 2025–26 FAFSA form.
2025–26 FAFSA Prototype—The tool provides the financial aid community an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the FAFSA user experience.
Updated information and outreach tools for counselors, college access professionals, and other advisors can be found in the Financial Aid Toolkit.
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