Students frustrated with applying for financial aid may have an easier time this year. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FAFSA, is implementing changes for the 2026-2027 form. After a slew of processing issues and delayed rollouts in the past two years, FAFSA wants to fix the bugs and have the revised form available by Oct. 1, 2025.
While the Department of Education has been vague about the changes, students can expect technical errors to be fixed and an easier application process.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon believes the changes will improve the application from previous years. “Congress gave us a mandate to improve the form and deliver it on time for students, families and institutions of higher education, and I am proud to certify that the form will launch on time this fall.”
Former President Joe Biden signed a mandate last December requiring the Department of Education to notify congress by Sept. 1, 2025, if the form will be available by the October deadline. Although the 2026 form is still in beta testing, McMahon brushed aside any doubt.
The 2024-2025 rollout intended to simplify the process by pulling financial information straight from the IRS. Instead, the form suffered upwards of 40 different technical errors such as inability to submit the form or severe miscalculations of financial aid offers. The FAFSA simplification act of 2020 was supposed to shorten the process but led to a decrease of about 400,000 applicants, according to the government accountability office.
Beta testing for the new form began in August but will finish before the form publicly opens in October.
Author: Hannah Clove
Photo courtesy of Providence Classical School
Editor: Kayd Johanson
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