No main modifications—or public remark—for subsequent yr’s FAFSA

The U.S. Division of Schooling won’t be opening subsequent yr’s Free Utility for Federal Pupil Assist (FASFA) to public remark or making substantive modifications to this previous cycle’s type.

“To make sure a clean consumer expertise throughout the upcoming FAFSA cycle, the 2025–26 FAFSA type will stay in line with the 2024–25 type,” division officers wrote in an announcement Monday. “Consequently, and much like earlier years when now we have not had main shifts in performance, the 2025–26 type won’t be made obtainable for public remark.”

The monetary support group will probably be allowed to supply suggestions outdoors the traditional public remark interval, throughout a sequence of listening periods the division will maintain “over the approaching weeks,” in line with the announcement. It would additionally solicit digital suggestions over the summer season from these unable to attend the periods.

The choice eliminates the same old 90-day remark interval, growing the chance that the division can meet its Oct. 1 deadline for the brand new type—which has raised skeptical eyebrows amongst lawmakers and increased ed professionals alike.

However it additionally shuts off one of many few public venues for critiquing final yr’s FAFSA. That’s irritating for a lot of monetary support professionals who noticed room for enchancment within the first model of the brand new type, stated Jill Desjean, senior coverage analyst on the Nationwide Affiliation of Pupil Monetary Assist Directors.

“This isn’t the primary time they’ve not made substantial modifications,” she wrote in an e-mail to Inside Greater Ed. “However given the magnitude of the modifications from this yr, I believe individuals would have appreciated the time to remark.”