FAFSA delayed again. Federal financial aid app to roll out gradually for 2025 college hopefuls

High school seniors who hope to attend college in the fall of 2025 can soon fill out the federal application for financial aid.

But this time, like last year, the form will be slightly delayed for most students.

The federal agency announced Wednesday that the application system would not be ready for all students and institutions until Dec. 1, despite troubleshooting and reorganizing the process for most of this year.

The department decided to launch the application to a limited number of students and institutions. Access to the forum will be phased in, starting with volunteers then increasing the number of applicants until all students have access.

Department officials hope limited users can help identify and resolve system errors before it's expanded to the wider student population on or before Dec. 1.

“Following a challenging 2024-25 FAFSA cycle, the Department listened carefully to the input of students, families, and higher education institutions, made substantial changes to leadership and operations at Federal Student Aid, and is taking a new approach this year that will significantly improve the FAFSA experience,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.

FAFSA forms determine how much financial aid students get from federal and state governments and higher education institutions.

Students and families across the country struggled to complete the FAFSA last school year due to glitches in the rollout of the new version of the application.

Indiana fell short of state education leaders' goal to have at least 60 percent of the Class of 2024 complete the FAFSA.

As of July 26, only about 47 percent of high school seniors completed the FAFSA, according to data from the National College Attainment Network. The state’s year-to-year change in the number of application submissions is the lowest in the country.

Nationally, less than half of that class completed the form. Some states had completions drop by thousands compared to previous years.

In 2020, Congress ordered the Department of Education to rebuild the FAFSA system with aims to make it easier for families to navigate.

But its rollout for the 2024-25 FAFSA was plagued by bugs and technical issues, including many parents without social security numberswho encountered error messages that slowed the completion process.

The national FAFSA deadline closes next year on June 30. Indiana’s priority deadline to submit the forum is Aug. 15.

The federal department will release more about its testing period in the coming weeks.

Rachel Fradette is the WFYI Statehouse education reporter. Contact Rachel at rfradette@wfyi.org.