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Education Department Opens FAFSA 2027-28 to Public Beta Testing Ahead of October 1 Launch

Federal Student Aid has opened the second phase of testing for next year's FAFSA to any student or parent, after Secretary Linda McMahon certified to Congress the form will launch on schedule.

Meridians Life Desk

Published 2 September 2026 · Updated 2 September 2026 · 4 min read

Education Department Opens FAFSA 2027-28 to Public Beta Testing Ahead of October 1 LaunchEducation
Photo: Photo by Andy Barbour / Pexels (Pexels License — free to use, no attribution legally required (credited above as good practice).)

The short answer

  • Phase two of 2027-28 FAFSA beta testing opened in late August 2026, open to any student or parent via StudentAid.gov/joinbeta.
  • Phase one ran August 5–20 with 17 organizations across seven states and territories, generating about 2,000 test forms.
  • Secretary Linda McMahon certified to Congress the form will launch by October 1, 2026, as required under the 2024 FAFSA Deadline Act.
  • Forms submitted during beta testing are official 2027-28 records, not throwaway tests.

The Education Department has opened testing of next year's FAFSA to the general public, ahead of a legally required October 1 launch date.

Two phases of testing

Phase one ran August 5 to 20, 2026, with 17 organizations — school districts, community-based organizations and colleges — participating across Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, the Marshall Islands, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. That phase generated roughly 2,000 test forms. Phase two opened in late August, open to any student or parent who requests access at StudentAid.gov/joinbeta; the department admits participants on a rolling basis by email invitation.

The law behind the deadline

The 2024 FAFSA Deadline Act requires the form to be ready by October 1 each year, a response to the chaotic, delayed rollout of the 2024-25 FAFSA. Education Secretary Linda McMahon certified to congressional leaders that the 2027-28 form will launch on schedule.

The stakes for testers

Forms submitted during beta testing aren't throwaway data. The resulting ISIRs — Institutional Student Information Records — are official 2027-28 records used as the basis for financial aid packaging, and students can list up to 20 school codes on a single form.

What's new for 2027-28

  • Pre-populated data for students renewing an existing FAFSA.
  • Simplified form language.
  • A feature letting parents reuse information across multiple siblings' applications.
  • Implementation of Working Families Tax Cuts Act provisions excluding small family businesses, farms and fishing operations from asset calculations.

Volume and fraud claims

The department expects "tens of thousands" more test FAFSAs before the public launch. It also says it saved federal taxpayers more than $1 billion by identifying and eliminating fraud during the 2026-27 cycle, and introduced a contributor-invite code system along with an "earnings indicator" comparing graduate incomes.

Sources

Every factual claim above is traceable to these documents. Check them — that is why they are here.

About this byline

Meridians Life Desk is an editorial desk at Meridians, not an individual. A desk byline means the article was produced and fact-checked to that desk's published standards. Read our editorial standards and corrections policy.

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