Today, the U.S. Department of Education released the framework for the testing period it will use starting October 1, 2024, ahead of making the 2025–26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) available to all students and contributors on or before December 1. The Department’s top priority remains ensuring the FAFSA form is stable and delivers a smooth and secure experience for families, schools, states, and other partners.
For the first beta test (Beta 1)—which will begin on October 1—the Department seeks to partner with community based organizations (CBOs) that can reach a broad and diverse set of student and contributor populations and have the ability to partner with institutions to test the ISIRs generated by submitted FAFSA forms. Further details can be found in our press release and electronic announcement. Starting today through September 5, CBOs can submit a form to express interest in participating in Beta 1.
In subsequent beta tests, the Department will work with other types of organizations and institutions—in addition to CBOs—to recruit participants. The Department will seek to work with high schools that can host FAFSA completion nights and institutions that can recruit their returning students to submit the FAFSA form and process those students’ ISIRs. Working with high schools and additional institutions of higher education will allow the Department to test the FAFSA form with tens of thousands of students from a wider variety of student populations and help the Department identify and fix major issues before the application is available to all students and contributors. The Department also may directly recruit students in later beta tests. In the coming weeks, the Department will announce additional details about later beta tests and will provide information about how the Department will recruit participants, as well as how organizations can apply. Applicants for Beta 1 also will be eligible to participate in later beta tests.
