The form to apply for federal financial student aid now must roll out by Oct. 1 annually under a bill signed into law by President Joe Biden on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Photo by Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — The form to apply for federal financial student aid must roll out by Oct. 1 annually after President Joe Biden signed a bill into law Wednesday that ensures an earlier processing cycle.

Though the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, typically launches in October each year, the U.S. Department of Education legally had until Jan. 1 to make the form available.

The new law came as the department has taken heat over its botched rollout of the 2024-25 form, when users faced a series of glitches and errors. The form did not officially launch until January.

Adding fuel to the fire, the agency announced earlier this year that it would take a staggered approach to the 2025-26 form so it could address problems that might pop up before opening applications to everyone — again making the form available later than usual.

After testing stages that began Oct. 1, the department fully debuted the 2025-26 form in late November — 10 days ahead of its Dec. 1 official launch.

A spokesperson for the department said it is “committed to enforcing all laws duly passed by Congress” when asked about Biden signing the FAFSA bill into law.

Meanwhile, the department said Thursday it had received over 1.5 million 2025-26 FAFSA submissions and has delivered more than 7 million student records to states and schools.

U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said that even with these developments, the department’s work “is not done.”

“We will continue to fix bugs and improve the user experience to make it easier for students and families to get the financial aid they need,” Kvaal said on a call with reporters Thursday regarding updates on the 2025-26 form.

FAFSA deadline bill breezed through Congress

The bill was met with sweeping bipartisan support and swiftly passed both the House and Senate in November. Indiana GOP Rep. Erin Houchin, a member of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, introduced the legislation in July.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, put forth the Senate version of the bill. The Louisiana Republican is in line to chair the panel next year.

Rep. Bobby Scott, ranking member of the House education panel, celebrated the bill becoming law on Wednesday.

“As college costs continue to rise, federal financial aid, including Pell Grants, is essential to making higher education more affordable and accessible,” the Virginia Democrat said in a statement.

Scott said that by standardizing the deadline, the measure “gives students and families more time to complete their applications and secure the financial support they need to attend college without unnecessary delays.”

The 2024-25 application got a makeover after Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in late 2020 but was met with several issues that prompted processing delays and gaps in submissions.

The department’s staff worked to fix these errors and close the gap in submissions from the previous processing cycle, and officials said they reflected on how to make improvements for the 2025-26 form and beyond. 

A sign reminding people to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — better known as FAFSA — appears on a bus near Union Station in Washington, D.C. (Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — A measure to ensure the federal student aid form opens up annually by Oct. 1 passed the U.S. House Friday with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The effort — which passed 381-1 — came after the U.S. Department of Education faced major backlash over the botched rollout of the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. California Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren was the only lawmaker to vote against the bill. 

Though the form got a makeover after Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in late 2020, users faced multiple glitches and technical errors throughout the form’s soft launch in December and past its full debut in January, prompting processing delays and gaps in submissions.

The department has worked to correct these glitches and close that gap while also fixing major issues that prevented parents without Social Security numbers from completing the form.

Adding another complication, the department said in August it would use a phased rollout of the 2025-26 form in an attempt to address any errors that might arise before it opens up to everyone — making the application fully available two months later than usual.

“Since Oct. 1, the Department has conducted three successful beta tests of the 2025–26 FAFSA form to ensure it is ready for all students and families on or before Dec. 1,” U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement shared Monday with States Newsroom, while noting that the department already began its fourth testing stage this past week.

“We have a fully functioning site and a form working end-to-end that has been successfully submitted by more than 10,000 students, with dozens of schools all over the country receiving the data for student aid packages,” he said.

The department is on track to launch the 2026-27 FAFSA on Oct. 1, 2025, with “a fully functioning system,” according to Kvaal. 

Codified deadline

Though the department legally has until Jan. 1 to roll out the form, it typically launches Oct. 1.

U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin, an Indiana Republican and member of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, in July introduced the bill to standardize that deadline.

“I’m especially frustrated considering the Department of Education has had three years to simplify the FAFSA as Congress has dictated,” Houchin said during floor debate Friday.

She also referenced recent findings from the Government Accountability Office, including that nearly three-quarters of all calls to the call center went unanswered in the first five months of the 2024-25 rollout.

“We want this program to work — we want to make sure that children and families that want to send their kids to college have the availability to do that and that the FAFSA is available and workable,” she added.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, ranking member of the House education panel, echoed his support during the floor debate, saying the measure will “help ensure that even more students have the information they need in a timelier manner to access Pell Grants and other vital student aid.”

Scott initially opposed the effort when the committee took it up in July out of concerns that the implementation deadline could force the department to roll out an incomplete form on Oct. 1 of this year.

“However, because we’re now considering the bill after Oct. 1, the deadline will apply next year, 2025, and that gives the department ample time to make improvements and fix any lingering issues,” the Virginia Democrat said.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, introduced a companion bill in July.

The bill was referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where Cassidy serves as ranking member. After Republicans won a Senate majority in the Nov. 5 elections, Cassidy is in line to chair the panel next year.