FAFSA Beta 1 Interest Form

FAFSA Beta 1 | Interest Form for CBOs

Thank you for your interest in participating in the 2025-26 FAFSA form Beta as announced on August 7, 2024.  

Federal Student Aid (FSA) is conducting a beta testing program for the 2025-26 FAFSA form beginning on October 1, 2024. The first beta testing stage (“Beta 1”) will begin October 1, and will be followed by additional beta testing phases.  Participation in the FAFSA form beta testing will allow students to submit official applications for federal financial aid. After submission, FSA will transmit Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) to institutions and states/territories. Students will be able to make corrections and institutions will be able to make corrections via the FAFSA Partner Portal (FPP).

For Beta 1, we plan to work with a small number of community-based organizations (2-6 CBOs) focused on college access with existing partnerships with at least one postsecondary institution. The ideal participating organization will:

• Be able to host one large or a few smaller FAFSA completion session(s) on, or shortly after, October 1 or have a partner who is able to host.

• Be able to recruit at least 100 students who, with their contributors, will participate in the in-person FAFSA session(s). During these sessions, the goal will be to complete and submit FAFSA forms for all applicants and contributors.

• Have students included in the FAFSA completion event who will apply to at least one postsecondary institution in common.  Note: all institutions that the student applies to, along with the relevant state/territorial agencies, will then be able to receive and process ISIRs on/after October 8.

• Confirm interest in participating in Beta 1 with the financial aid office at this postsecondary institution.

• Welcome representatives of that institution and the relevant state/territorial agency (to be invited by FSA and/or your organization) to observe your FAFSA-completion session, along with representatives of the FAFSA team.

• Prepare both students and contributors for full participation by October 1.  This includes having both students and contributors set up FSA ID accounts by September 26 and register via a FSA form (to validate FSA account creation).  

• Collect feedback from both students and contributors to be shared with FSA.

• Be able to support students and contributors through completing the 2025-2026 FAFSA application during the FAFSA completion event and in submitting corrections.

Interested organizations do not need to meet all of the above to express interest. FSA will not be able to provide incentives to participating organizations or students for their participation in FAFSA Beta, However, organizations may choose to offer their customary incentives to attendees of the Beta 1 FAFSA completion session(s).

Please submit this interest form as early as possible, but no later than September 5. FSA staff may contact you for a follow-up discussion. We will notify selected organizations by September 9. For those with questions, please email betainterest@ed.gov.

1.During the past year, has your organization helped students in navigating challenges with the FAFSA form? Required to answer. Single choice.

Yes

No

2.During the past year, has your organization hosted or participated in an in-person FAFSA-completion event? Required to answer. Single choice.

Yes

No

3.Please briefly describe your CBO's process (e.g., recruitment, staffing, and/or logistics) for hosting a successful FAFSA completion event. Multi Line Text.

Enter your answer

4.On which of these dates could you hold a single large (or multiple back-to-back) in-person FAFSA-completion events this fall? Required to answer. Multiple choice.

Please choose all that apply.

Tuesday, October 1

Wednesday, October 2

Thursday, October 3

Friday, October 4

Saturday, October 5

5.Could you successfully recruit 100 or more students, along with their contributors, to attend these events? Required to answer. Single choice.

Yes

No

6.Where would you host an in-person FAFSA event(s)? Multi Line Text.

Please include location(s) name and address, including city and state/territory.  If you know any additional logistics details, please feel free to include those here as well.

Enter your answer

7.Have you discussed your joint participation in FAFSA Beta 1 with a partner at the hosting location to confirm interest and general availability? Single choice.

Yes

No

N/A (i.e., hosting at your organization's facilities)

8.Without changing your usual advising practices, could you recruit 100 or more students, at least 100 of whom would apply to a single postsecondary institution in common? Required to answer. Single choice.

Yes

No

9.Which postsecondary institution is this? Single line text.

Enter your answer

10.And have you discussed your joint participation in FAFSA Beta 1 with a financial aid colleague at this institution? Single choice.

Yes

No

11.So that we can follow up, please share your financial aid colleague's name, title, email, and phone number: Multi Line Text.

Enter your answer

12.Would the students you recruit to participate in the Beta primarily be: Required to answer. Single choice.

New college students

Returning college students

Both new and returning students

Unsure

13.Do you believe your recruiting efforts for the FAFSA Beta would reach students in any of these contexts? Multiple choice.

Please choose all that apply.

Students from low-income backgrounds

First-generation students

Veterans and service members

Surviving spouse or children of military veterans

Students who are incarcerated

Students with incarcerated contributors

English language learners

Eligible non-citizen students

Students with contributors with no SSNs

Students from U.S. Territories or Freely Associated States

Independent students

Unaccompanied homeless youth

Youth in the foster system

Students with disabilities

Other: Please specify

14.What languages, other than English, are primarily spoken by the students and contributors you plan to recruit? Multi Line Text.

Enter your answer

15.How confident are you that: Likert.

	Very	Somewhat	Not too	Not at all
You will have engaged participation from students and contributors
All students and contributors will have FSA IDs before 9/26
Participants will be willing to give feedback on their experience
You will be able to support students and contributors through challenges with FAFSA applications

16.What challenges or barriers do you anticipate in recruiting students to participate? Multi Line Text.

Enter your answer

17.We are grateful for your willingness to help us test and improve the FAFSA. Please describe what you are hoping for from your participation in the FAFSA Beta. Multi Line Text.

Enter your answer

18.Please provide your organization name: Required to answer. Single line text.

Enter your answer

19.Please provide your organization address, including city and state/territory: Required to answer. Single line text.

Enter your answer

20.Please provide your organization's URL: Required to answer. Single line text.

Enter your answer

21.Please provide a brief description of your organization's work in access to postsecondary education. Required to answer. Multi Line Text.

Enter your answer

22.Please let us know how to contact you with questions and follow-up.
Your name: Required to answer. Single line text.

Enter your answer

23.Your job title: Required to answer. Single line text.

Enter your answer

24.Your email address: Required to answer. Single line text.

Please enter an email

25.Your phone number: Required to answer. Single line text.

Enter your answer

Notification to Individual Providing Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

By providing your PII on this form, your information may be disclosed to contractors to assist the Department in selecting Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) with existing partnerships with at least one postsecondary institution to facilitate a beta testing program for the 2025-26 FAFSA form, to assist FSA in conducting such beta testing program, and to test the effectiveness of the FAFSA form prior to releasing the form to the public.

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1845-NEW. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 20 minutes (.33 hours) per response, including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is voluntary. If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to betainterest@ed.gov. (Note: Do not return the completed form to this address.)