MorraLee Keller of the nonprofit college access organization National College Attainment Network (NCAN), says this year’s form looks almost identical to last year’s, but the user experience has been greatly improved.
“We really need to get a very positive message out that a lot of work has gone into this system for 2025-26 to make it a completely different experience to last year. So everyone should give the system a chance.”
What the Ministry of Education is doing differently this time
Completing the FAFSA is the only way students can access financial aid from the federal government and be considered for grants, loans and some scholarships. Each year, more than 17 million students complete the application.
Normally, the form becomes available to all students on October 1st. But this year, the department then began testing the form with a limited number of students and institutions. FAFSA Executive Counsel Jeremy Singer said in an August press release that the testing period is designed “to uncover and correct problems with the FAFSA form before the form is available to millions of students and their families.”
During the last FAFSA cycle, in addition to problems with the form, students also struggled to contact the FAFSA call center for help. According to the GAO, “nearly three-quarters of all calls to the call center” went unanswered in the first five months of implementation. This time, the Ministry of Education has increased call center staffing – by nearly 80% since January – and plans to extend the centre’s opening hours.
“So far, the call center is doing very well,” U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Quall told NPR. “At the volume we have right now, people are getting their calls answered very, very quickly.”
He cautions that there may be times when the higher call volume results in wait times, but he’s confident it will be a smoother experience overall.
Beth Maglione, CEO and interim president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), says she’s been watching the department’s testing process closely and is pleased with what she’s seen.
“Federal leaders somehow listened and took to heart the lessons learned from last year’s troubled rollout and used those lessons to chart a more robust path forward.”
A less painful process so far
Low-income students and students whose parent or spouse does not have a Social Security Number (SSN)—which the GAO calls “mixed-status families”—suffered the most from the troubled implementation of the previous FAFSA. One challenge for mixed-status families was an issue that blocked anyone without an SSN from filling out the form.
Kvaal says throughout the beta testing period, “We’ve made a number of changes to make the process easier for parents and spouses who don’t have Social Security numbers. These people are getting through now, and that wasn’t always possible six or eight months ago.
At Cal State LA, where Christina Martinez works, the majority of students are low-income and many come from mixed-status families. She says most of her students had trouble with the form last year, but this year is a different story.
Martinez says the form has more instructional language that helps students avoid mistakes. On average, she says it takes students about 20 minutes to complete the form, although the FAFSA website suggests taking about an hour. (The website also includes checklist how to prepare to apply.)
NCAN’s Keller says that while she’s excited about the improvements, she’s waiting to see how the new FAFSA system will respond to increased application volume now that the form is officially out of beta testing and open to all families.
Keller has one piece of advice for students and families that Martinez and Maglione echoed: Fill out your FAFSA as soon as possible.
“Let’s not wait. Do your FAFSA as quickly as possible,” Keller says. “Hopefully, having students start their FAFSA in mid-November will lead to things like earlier award letters, more decision time, better decisions.”
