Beta testing for the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is officially available to a limited group of participants as the Department of Education announced in late August. Below is an overview of the most important information regarding today’s release:
Phase 1 of Beta Testing Begins
- The first phase of beta testing for the 2025-26 FAFSA applications launched today, October 1st
- Students from a select number of institutions and community-based organizations (CBOs) will have access to submit the preliminary application
- FSA will process the ISIRs for these students soon
What Institutions Can Expect
- The applications submitted by these students will contain their official ISIRs, which should be used for packaging aid for the 2025-26 cycle
- Institutions and state agencies may receive some ISIRs through the FTI-Student Aid Internet Gateway starting this week; no further action is needed
- ISIRs will not be archived from mailboxes, so institutions and agencies can process them at their discretion
- Schools and agencies can download these ISIRs and use them to beta test software and other processes
What Happens Next
- Institutions can expect system issues with the beta test; particularly issues that existed with the 2024-25 FAFSA form
- When you encounter a problem, the recommendation is to report them to FPS Help Desk and their software vendor if applicable
- FSA anticipates that tens of thousands of students will participate in beta testing the 2025-26 application as the volume of ISIRs sent to institutions grows with each new beta phase
Important Resources
- Federal Student Aid Estimator: The updated tool provides an estimate of the 2025-26 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Federal Pell Grant eligibility calculation.
- StudentAid.gov Support: Resources such as the ‘parent wizard’ or the contributor to help students and families determine who will need to provide information
- Updated 2025-26 FAFSA Prototype: Provides an in-depth look at the FAFSA user experience for administrators and participants
- Guide to Validating Institutional Student Informational Records (ISIRs): A quick guide to validating ISIRs
SOURCE: (GENERAL-24-119) Launch of 2025–26 FAFSA Beta and Implications for Institutions and State Agencies