Again? 2025-26 FAFSA Rollout Delayed. What You Need to Know

We are experts in handling the FAFSA process, which has never been exactly easy for students or parents. Last year was nothing short of a debacle as the Department of Education rolled out a new, “simpler” FAFSA process. If you’ve been following along with us here at Send Your Kids To College, you’re well aware that the “simplification process,” regardless of intention, was anything but simple. We've been covering these changes since 2021, and will continue to do so, so that WNY families are well prepared and have a place to go when they need help with FAFSA. We ourselves were thrust into a new world and appreciate the patience from anyone we worked with this past year with FAFSA. Today we have some news, but it’s not necessarily great news.. This is apparently the new normal, at least for this upcoming year. 

Let’s look at what to expect this year from FAFSA.

FAFSA Rollout Delayed Again, for 99% of People

The Department of Education announced last week that this year they would be opening up FAFSA on October 1, which is the typical date, but with a caveat. This date would only allow access to the FAFSA application for a “limited set of students and institutions.”

This is, according to the DOE, based on feedback and conversations with thousands of students, colleges, and families. The goal seems to be to start small and seek feedback throughout the first two months from those applicants who are given access, and who seem to be volunteers. 

The DOE will invite volunteers to participate in the “testing period” from Oct 1 - Dec 1, and over time the form will be opened up to more and more participants. Over this time, the DOE claims that by utilizing “software industry best practices,” they will identify and resolve the kind of system errors that will cause issues, to avoid those issues affecting the full rollout on Dec 1. 

Hopefully, DOE is Learning From Mistakes

Last year was a debacle, with FAFSA submission having been down by roughly 40% at one point. The DOE states that that number has been significantly diminished to only 4% as of last week, which is good but doesn’t solve the issues that millions of students faced last year. It was challenging, to say the least. 

We did our best to help our local students and families navigate the process and learned a lot ourselves. As certified college planners we aim to be experts in our craft, and we will continue to work hard at mastering this new FAFSA system, and we, like you, hope that this phased rollout will be working perfectly by December.

In the DOE Press release, FAFSA Executive Advisor Jeremy Singer made it clear they share the understanding that last year did not go well and that this year will aim to be smoother.. "We've heard from students, families, higher education professionals, and other stakeholders loud and clear: They want a better, simpler FAFSA process, and they want to know when they can reliably expect it. In close collaboration with partners, FSA is confident we will deliver not only a better product, but also a smoother process than last year.

Unfortunately, only time will tell how it looks come Dec 1. 

Regardless, rest assured that we will keep you up to speed on any updates, changes, or other noteworthy news from the DOE and the world of FAFSA. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to give us a call or fill out our contact form to stay in touch with a certified college planning expert to be ready to go when the time comes!