The Department recently announced that it would select a group of students and institutions of higher education (IHEs) to test the 2025-26 FAFSA before its public release later this year. In addition, two to six community-based organization (CBOs) will also have the opportunity to beta test the new application. Interested CBOs must complete an online form to express interest.
Beta 1 Interest Form Overview
- The deadline for CBOs to submit an interest form is Sept. 5, 2024
- The final number selected will depend on the number of students each organization estimates it can recruit for Beta 1
- Interested CBOs will be required to describe their past FAFSA-related work, as well as their participation and support of FAFSA-related events, their process for hosting a successful FAFSA completion session, potential recruitment efforts, and how they meet other requirements outlined in the form
- IHEs that want to participate in Beta 1 are encouraged to partner with a CBO and there will be an opportunity for IHEs to participate independently in upcoming beta periods
Eligibility Criteria for CBOs
- Be able to host one large or a few smaller FAFSA completion session(s) on, or shortly after, October 1 or have a partner who is able to host
- Be able to recruit at least 100 students who, with their contributors, will participate in the in-person FAFSA session(s). During these sessions, the goal will be to complete and submit FAFSA forms for all applicants and contributors
- Have students included in the FAFSA completion event who will apply to at least one postsecondary institution in common. Note: all institutions that the student applies to, along with the relevant state/territorial agencies, will then be able to receive and process ISIRs on/after October 8
- Confirm interest in participating in Beta 1 with the financial aid office at this postsecondary institution
Welcome representatives of that institution and the relevant state/territorial agency (to be invited by FSA and/or your organization) to observe your FAFSA-completion session, along with representatives of the FAFSA team - Prepare both students and contributors for full participation by October 1. This includes having both students and contributors set up FSA ID accounts by September 26 and register via a FSA form (to validate FSA account creation)
- Collect feedback from both students and contributors to be shared with FSA
- Be able to support students and contributors through completing the 2025-2026 FAFSA application during the FAFSA completion event and in submitting corrections
* Organizations are not required to meet each benchmark in order to complete the interest form.
Beta 1 Timeline and Next Steps
- The Department expects to announce the CBOs and IHEs selected to participate in Beta 1 on Sept. 9 and will conduct an orientation session for the selected organizations during the week of Sept. 9
- The CBOs will have the rest of September to recruit students and plan one or more FAFSA completion session(s)
- IHEs and any relevant state grant agencies will receive ISIRs shortly after the FAFSA forms are submitted during Beta 1
- If no CBOs meet all the desired criteria for Beta 1, the Department will select the organizations that will best enable us to test both submission and ISIR processing with a sufficient number of students and a broad range of student types
- Students will be able to select any institution to receive their FAFSA data, and those IHEs and relevant states will also be able to access those ISIRs after they are processed during Beta 1 regardless of beta testing participation
Other organizations will receive an invitation to participate in future rounds of beta testing and FSA will continue to update the public as they address software issues in the coming months. The FAFSA Beta 1 Interest Form for CBOs is available here.
SOURCE: (GENERAL-24-107) Availability of 2025–26 FAFSA Beta 1 Interest Form