Education Department launches revamped FAFSA for 2026–27
The U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid office has rolled out an updated Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2026–27 academic year, opening earlier than prior cycles and introducing beta testing and a faster Social Security number verification tool to reduce delays that hampered earlier rollouts. The changes follow the 2020 FAFSA Simplification Act and aim to improve completion rates—especially among students in high‑poverty and majority Black and Latino communities—after GAO and advocacy analyses showed prior technical failures reduced filings.
Education
Government/Regulatory
🔍 Key Facts
- Updated FAFSA launched for the 2026–27 cycle in late Sept/early Oct 2025; PBS article published Oct. 2, 2025
- Department of Education reports about 125,000 applications had been started during early/beta access as of last Friday
- New quick verification tool uses students' Social Security numbers to verify identity immediately rather than the prior 1–3 day process
- Federal Student Aid ran selective beta testing in August and a second phase in September 2025 to pretest systems and allow some students to file early
- GAO found the delayed 2024–25 FAFSA rollout contributed to a 9% drop in high‑school seniors and first‑time filers; Century Foundation analysis showed a 20% greater chance of noncompletion in high‑poverty, majority Black and Latino communities