The New Fafsa Is Out. Here's What Students and Families Need to Know.
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Here's your Money Briefing for Friday, November 22nd. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. This year's FAFSA is available for students and their families to apply for financial aid. But some may still have bad memories from last year's form, which was littered with glitches.
It caused a decrease in the number of students and families that were either able to successfully complete the FAFSA or even try to attempt it. Some 46 percent of high school seniors completed the form earlier this year. That's down from more than half of high school seniors last year. So you could see how people were discouraged from completing the form.
We'll talk to Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter Oyen Adedoyan after the break.
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A new version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, has been released. Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter Oyen Adedoyin joins me. Oyen, earlier this year, the Education Department said there would be a staggered rollout of the FAFSA for the 2025-26 academic school year. Has that happened?
It has. So the education department basically released an application around that time to a bunch of nonprofit organizations around the country that serve first-generation students, students with mixed status families, and low-income, middle-income students to apply for the FAFSA early in small batches so that they could catch glitches and bugs in real time.
Was there a broader rollout?
Yes. As of Monday of this week, all families were able to complete it, but it was still under the guise of a beta 4 testing, which meant it was almost like the education department put an asterisk on the form. It's still not fully launched, but all families can go in and start the process.
What changed with the 2025-26 FAFSA release and why does it matter?
Now, though, families can officially start filling out the FAFSA, and the hope is that they won't have a problem with it this time.
When's the deadline to apply?
The FAFSA is usually accepted on a rolling basis. Families can apply as late as June 30th of 2025. Especially for those who are coming into college for the first time, you want to get that application in sooner rather than later so that you can start to compare financial aid offers from different colleges.
If she's confirmed, what's likely to be on the to-do list for Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon?
The FAFSA is definitely going to be a top concern. Since it was released late last year, it's been fraught with glitches and problems. It's been rolled back. It's been rolled forward. There's just been a lot of angst around this application from families and students to colleges and universities. So there's a lot of doubt in the system right now with that application.
How did those glitches impact the number of students and families who filled it out?
It caused a decrease in the number of students and families that were either able to successfully complete the FAFSA or even try to attempt it. Some 46% of high school seniors completed the form earlier this year. That's down from more than half of high school seniors last year. So you could see how people were discouraged from completing the form.
You talked to a lot of those people.
I did.
How did last year’s FAFSA glitches affect application completion rates?
What was that like?
It was a lot of stress. Applying for colleges and universities is always stressful for students every year and their families. And the FAFSA was always seen as this daunting form. So the idea that it would be simplified into something that could be done in five minutes or less was really exciting for families.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:47
2
What changed with the 2025-26 FAFSA release and why does it matter?
2:47–4:06
3
How did last year’s FAFSA glitches affect application completion rates?
4:06–8:40
4
What was the Education Department’s staggered FAFSA rollout and who got early access?
8:40–8:45
Speakers
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