2025-26 FAFSA Beta Testing Phases 2-4 - Not for Profit

FAFSA^® Betas 2–4 | Interest Form for Organizations

Thank you for your interest in participating in the Federal Student Aid (FSA) 2025–26 FAFSA form beta testing program that was announced on August 7, 2024. Participating in FAFSA beta testing will allow students to submit official applications for financial aid. After FSA receives FAFSA forms, the office will transmit Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) to postsecondary institutions (institutions) and state agencies. Students will be able to make corrections, and institutions will be able to make corrections via the FAFSA Partner Portal (FPP).

As announced on August 27, 2024, the first testing period (Beta 1) will begin October 1 (the application period for Beta 1 is closed). The second testing period (Beta 2) will begin in mid-October, the third testing period (Beta 3) will begin in early November, and the fourth testing period (Beta 4) will begin in mid-November.

CBOs, high schools, school districts (representing multiple high schools), and institutions that would like to be considered for Beta 2, Beta 3, or Beta 4 are encouraged to submit this interest form as early as possible, but no later than September 20 at 3 PM EST. For a postsecondary system, the form should be filled out by each institution that would like to participate. FSA staff may contact organizations that express interest for a follow-up discussion. FSA will notify organizations selected for Beta 2 by September 24 and those selected for Beta 3 and Beta 4 shortly thereafter.

One of FSA’s goals is to include students from many different student populations to test a wide array of FAFSA form use cases. FSA will select organizations to include different types of high schools and different types of institutions, such as community colleges, public universities, private colleges, and minority-serving institutions (MSIs).

For Beta 2, Beta 3, and Beta 4, FSA plans to work with community-based organizations (CBOs) focused on college access, high schools, and institutions that can

• recruit students who, with their contributors, will fill out and submit the 2025–26 FAFSA form

• work with those students and their contributors to help them

  • validate or obtain a StudentAid.gov account (username and password);

  • sign up on an FSA website to confirm their interest;

  • fill out and submit the FAFSA form within the first four days of the applicable beta testing period;

  • provide feedback to FSA on the FAFSA form submission process.

For the purposes of this interest form, government entities that directly support students with FAFSA completion and organize FAFSA completion events will be considered as CBOs.

For Betas 2– 4, FSA expects CBOs and high schools to

• recruit at least 100 students to fill out and submit the 2025–26 FAFSA form with their contributor(s); and

• hold at least one in-person FAFSA completion session within the first four days of the applicable beta stage.

FSA may include a CBO or high school that cannot commit to recruiting 100 students if necessary to meet our goals of working with a broad range of school types and reaching a variety of target populations.

FSA expects institutions to

• recruit the target number of students and their contributor(s) for each beta testing period to fill out and submit the 2025–26 FAFSA form:

  • Beta 2 – At least 200 students with their contributor(s)

  • Betas 3–4 – At least 500 students with their contributor(s)

• download ISIRs into their financial aid management system

• dedicate staff to testing the ISIRs according to criteria FSA specifies, such as: verifying the accuracy of SAIs and Pell eligibility amounts, identifying inconsistencies in comment codes and data fields, flagging missing or erroneous values, and determining whether aid can be packaged correctly; and

• provide feedback to FSA on the accuracy of ISIR processing as soon as possible, ideally by the seventh day of the beta stage window.

FSA may include an institution that cannot commit to recruiting the expected number of students if necessary to meet our goals of working with a broad range of institution types and reaching a variety of target populations.

Although FSA is not directly recruiting state agencies via this Interest Form, FSA will reach out to state agencies in the states where participating institutions are located. Ideally, FSA expects state agencies to:

• download ISIRs into their systems for awarding aid to students;

• test the ISIRs according to criteria FSA specifies; and

• provide feedback to FSA on the accuracy of ISIR processing.

In selecting organizations, FSA may consider the ability and willingness of the applicable state agencies to participate in testing. FSA also may consider CBOs’ or high schools’ ability to recruit students who are applying to participating institutions; this dynamic will increase the number of ISIRs that FSA will be able to test.

FSA is not providing incentives to organizations that participate in FAFSA Beta or to the students whom they recruit. However, organizations may choose to offer their customary incentives to student or contributor participants.

Email questions to betainterest@ed.gov.

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 U.S. Department of Education office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) in selecting organizations 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 one hour 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.

What category does your organization fall into? Required to answer. Single choice. (Skip logic further down based on response to this question)

Community-Based Organization (CBO)

High school or school district

Postsecondary institution

Which Beta stages are you interested in participating in? Required to answer. Multiple choice.

Please choose all that apply

Beta 2 - Begins mid-October

Beta 3 - Begins early November

Beta 4 - Begins mid-November

In each of the categories below, how many of your students do you anticipate would participate in Beta? Required to answer. Likert.

	0	1-25	26-50	51-100	101-250	251-500	501-1,000	More than 1,000
First-time FAFSA filers (i.e., new students)
Previous FAFSA filers (i.e., returning students)

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

Yes

No

During the past year, has your organization helped students identify their contributor(s) and obtain StudentAid.gov accounts (username and password)? Required to answer. Single choice.

Yes

No

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

Yes

No

if yes

What is the approximate total number of students who attended these events in the past year? Single line Text

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

If you are selected to participate in the Beta, do you plan to host one or more in-person FAFSA completion events? Required to answer. Single choice.

Yes

No

Unsure

Skip logic from above Questions for CBOs

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

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

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

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

What are the top five postsecondary institutions to which your students ordinarily apply? In a typical year, approximately how many of your students apply to each of those institutions?

Institution #1 name Single line text.

Institution #1 IPEDS Unit ID (lookup) Single line text.

Institution #1 approximate number/range of your students who apply in a typical year Single line text.

Institution #2 name Single line text.

Institution #2 IPEDS Unit ID (lookup) Single line text.

Institution #2 approximate number/range of your students who apply in a typical year Single line text.

Institution #3 name Single line text.

Institution #3 IPEDS Unit ID (lookup) Single line text.

Institution #3 approximate number/range of your students who apply in a typical year Single line text.

Institution #4 name Single line text.

Institution #4 IPEDS Unit ID (lookup) Single line text.

Institution #4 approximate number/range of your students who apply in a typical year Single line text.

Institution #5 name Single line text.

Institution #5 IPEDS Unit ID (lookup) Single line text.

Institution #5 approximate number/range of your students who apply in a typical year Single line text.

Skip logic from above Questions for High Schools and Districts

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

Please enter your NCES School or District ID. Required to answer. Single choice with text field for the number Skip Logic.

If you do not know it, you can look it up at NCES Common Core of Data (public and charter schools) or NCES Private School Universe Survey (private schools).

I have a NCES School or District ID (please provide) Skip Logic to questions for all

I do not have a NCES School or District ID. Skip Logic to additional questions

What are the top five postsecondary institutions to which your graduating students ordinarily apply? In a typical year, approximately how many of your students apply to each of those institutions? Format could be likert like, but single line text ok

Institution #1 name Single line text.

Institution #1 IPEDS Unit ID (lookup) Single line text.

Institution #1 approximate number/range of your students who apply in a typical year Single line text.

Institution #2 name Single line text.

Institution #2 IPEDS Unit ID (lookup) Single line text.

Institution #2 approximate number/range of your students who apply in a typical year Single line text.

Institution #3 name Single line text.

Institution #3 IPEDS Unit ID (lookup) Single line text.

Institution #3 approximate number/range of your students who apply in a typical year Single line text.

Institution #4 name Single line text.

Institution #4 IPEDS Unit ID (lookup) Single line text.

Institution #4 approximate number/range of your students who apply in a typical year Single line text.

Institution #5 name Single line text.

Institution #5 IPEDS Unit ID (lookup) Single line text.

Institution #5 approximate number/range of your students who apply in a typical year Single line text.

Skip logic from ID question – only goes to those without an NCES ID

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

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

Is your school: Required to answer. Multiple choice

Public

Charter

Private

Is the location of your school: Required to answer. Multiple choice

Urban

Suburban

Rural

What is the size of your 2025 graduating class? Required to answer. Single line text.

Skip logic from above Questions for Institutions

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

Please enter your IPEDS Unit ID. Required to answer. Single line text.

If you do not know it, you can look it up at IPEDS.

What (if any) state financial aid agencies are involved in your process of packaging aid for students? Multi Line Text.

As part of participating in the Beta, are you willing to download and test ISIRs? Required to answer. Single choice. Skip logic

Yes Skip logic to if yes question directly below

No Skip logic to Questions for everyone

Skip logic If answer Yes on are you willing to download and test ISIRs? In the institution section

By what date do you expect your systems to be ready to ingest and display ISIRs? Required to answer. Single line text.

What steps do you ordinarily take to test the accuracy of ISIRs? Required to answer. Multi Line Text.

Are there additional ways that you could test the accuracy of ISIRs that would help ensure that ISIR processing is functioning correctly? Multi Line Text.

Approximately how many staff members (information technology or financial aid administration) would be available to help test ISIRs during Beta? Required to answer. Single line text.

Return here after skip logic paths above Questions for Everyone

Do you believe your recruiting efforts for the FAFSA Beta would reach students in any of these contexts? Required to answer. Likert

	Unlikely to reach	Likely to reach 1 – 10 students	Likely to reach 11 – 50 students	Likely to reach more than 50 students
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 Social Security numbers Students from U.S. Territories or Freely Associated States Independent students Unaccompanied homeless youth Youth in the foster system Students with disabilities

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

How confident are you that: Likert.

	Not at all	Not too	Somewhat	Very
You will have engaged participation from students and contributors
All students and contributors will have a StudentAid.gov account (username and password) before the start of the applicable Beta stage
Participants will be willing to give feedback on their experience
You will be able to support students and contributors through challenges with FAFSA forms

What is your plan to recruit students and motivate them to fill out the FAFSA in October or November? What challenges or barriers do you anticipate in recruiting students to participate? Multi Line Text.

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

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

Your job title Required to answer. Single line text.

Your email address Required to answer. Single line text.

Your phone number Required to answer. Single line text.