--- title: 'FAFSA Opens: All Students Can Now Apply for College Financial Aid for 2025-26' description: The FASFA has formally launched after a weeks-long testing period. The application is the gateway to most college financial aid. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy has eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. At Money, he’s written extensively about student loans, including guides, explainers and breaking news. MuckRack named Adam one of the top 10 journalists covering student loans in the nation. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 501 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Kaitlin Mulhere role: Editor url: https://money.com/author/kaitlin-mulhere/ bio: Kaitlin Mulhere is an editor at Money.com. Since joining in 2015, she’s written and edited about a variety of personal finance topics, including banks, credit, student debt, saving strategies and more. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2015 articles: 217 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/KMulhere - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaitlin-mulhere-64503048/ published: '2024-11-19T20:23:59.000Z' modified: '2024-11-22T12:35:26.000Z' section: Education word_count: 588 canonical: https://money.com/2025-fafsa-opens/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Student and advisor applying for FAFSA](https://img.money.com/2024/11/News-FAFSA-2025-Open.jpg) The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as the FAFSA, is now open to all students for the 2025-26 academic year. The U.S. Department of Education officially released the form Thursday, ahead of its self-imposed deadline of Dec. 1. Earlier this week, the department expanded access to all applicants as part of an open beta test. The Education Department says that over 167,000 students completed the FAFSA during the testing period, which started on Oct. 1. And those students do not need to resubmit now that the form has formally launched. ## Cover your college expenses with a Student Loan, so you can focus solely on your grades and education. ### With a Student Loan from College Ave, you can worry less about tuition and devote your energy to mapping out your future. Click on your state and take the first step today. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/u3e72cf8ee70?ap_referrer=%2F2025-fafsa-opens%2F) All students — regardless of family income — who want to be considered for federal-, state- or college-level aid are encouraged to fill out the FAFSA. The information is used to award scholarships, [student loans](https://money.com/student-loans/), federal work-study programs, grants and more. Even though the form is open until June 2026, financial aid advocates recommend filling it out as soon as possible because some states and schools use the financial information from the FAFSA to award their own aid on a first-come, first-served basis. ## Why was the FAFSA delayed (again)? The FAFSA typically opens on Oct. 1 each year. This year, the Education Department only let a few hundred students begin filling out the form on that date [as part of the initial stages](https://money.com/fafsa-college-financial-aid-timeline-2025/) of the phased rollout. The department released the FAFSA this way so that it can test and monitor for any issues students run into while filling out the form — all in an effort to avoid a repeat of last year, when the government launched an updated version of the form known as "[Better FAFSA](https://money.com/fafsa-changes-2024/)." That newly designed form, which was used for the 2024-25 academic year, had a disastrous debut. The updated form drastically cut down the number of questions in an attempt to simplify the financial aid process. But last year, the FAFSA was anything but simple. For starters, it was released about three months behind schedule and was riddled with technical glitches, which set into motion a domino effect that [delayed college award letters](https://money.com/new-fafsa-delays-college-financial-aid-letters/) and [acceptance deadlines](https://money.com/fafsa-delays-change-deadlines-accepted-students/). In some cases, the fiasco kept students from committing to a college at all. Universities, financial aid advocates, families and lawmakers blasted the Education Department for the botched FAFSA. For the 2025-26 form, the department seems to have taken those critiques seriously. On Tuesday, the Education Department said it has already beefed up its FAFSA support staff by 700 people and has plans to add 225 additional agents in the coming weeks. So far, the nonprofit National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, or NASFAA, said the roll out has been “heartening” and that the department’s transparency and rigorous beta testing this year is “helping restore the trust that has been lost” over the issues stemming from last year. To get started on the new 2025-26 form, students and families should gather their financial documents, such as tax returns and bank statements, then log in to (or create an account on) [StudentAid.gov](http://studentaid.gov) to begin filling out [the new form](https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa). (For more advice on filling out the form, read Money's step-by-step guide to [filling out the FAFSA](https://money.com/how-to-apply-for-fafsa/).) Despite the beta testing of the new FAFSA, it’s possible some technical glitches will happen. Families should monitor the [Education Department’s beta testing hub](https://fsapartners.ed.gov/beta) for updates and work-arounds to popular issues. ## Compare Student Loan companies to find the right fit ### Cover up to 100% of your college costs ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/24903/medium_b6089714-807b-4b5a-88f9-defb35d74711.png) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/c3bab7487e34?bidid=4119833776&pmeta=p129-c550-u24512&ptid=671231127&ptoken=c9f453630078f8197beaadbc7d64e6f7) ### Apply online in minutes ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/29957/medium_1bf2c50c-d2fe-4492-bad2-f4bca2475954.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/032f67122cfa?bidid=4119833775&pmeta=p129-c550-u24512&ptid=671231127&ptoken=897aa005084e61ec0ba163aa578d4e0c) ### No fees ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/38573/medium_5a7ddb75-a315-44cf-8526-1594057ec7d6.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/26e04a9a2f83?bidid=4119833782&pmeta=p129-c550-u24512&ptid=671231127&ptoken=179a459531c323a474367564944b061a) ### Provides customized private loan options for students ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/38575/medium_3b0e137f-8ec1-4f32-a340-85efa53e0aab.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/e021adbed7c1?bidid=4119833780&pmeta=p129-c550-u24512&ptid=671231127&ptoken=bbbb06359f28180d4c694894a3a9602d) ### Rates starting at 2.99% ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/38576/medium_d3a42618-1276-44ce-95cf-561a8f89efa8.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/c5d2cb74c20c?bidid=4119833785&pmeta=p129-c550-u24512&ptid=671231127&ptoken=8ee672dec63f34dbd6d0be8b0492ddb3) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/24903/medium_b6089714-807b-4b5a-88f9-defb35d74711.png) Reach new academic heights with College Ave [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/y61180a308af?ap_referrer=%2F2025-fafsa-opens%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/2025-fafsa-opens/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paying for College", "item": "https://money.com/paying-for-college/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "FAFSA Opens: All Students Can Now Apply for College Financial Aid for 2025-26" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/2025-fafsa-opens/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/2025-fafsa-opens/", "name": "FAFSA Opens: All Students Can Now Apply for College Financial Aid for 2025-26", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2024-11-19T20:23:59.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/2025-fafsa-opens/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/2025-fafsa-opens/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-11-22T12:35:26.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "FAFSA Opens: All Students Can Now Apply for College Financial Aid for 2025-26", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/11/News-FAFSA-2025-Open.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-FAFSA-2025-Open" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy has eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. 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