This year’s FAFSA form for college financial aid is officially open
CNN
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA, officially opened Thursday for students seeking financial aid for college during the 2025-2026 school year.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as the FAFSA, officially opened Thursday for students seeking financial aid for college during the 2025-2026 school year. The form traditionally opens on October 1, but the Department of Education delayed the release in an effort to avoid a repeat of last year’s rocky rollout after making significant updates to the application. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed concern that the problems would prevent some low-income students from attending college at all. Submitting the form is required for students to access federal Pell grants, student loans and other kinds of financial aid and is filled out by millions of people annually. The department has been testing the 2025-26 form by allowing a limited number of students and families to submit the application since October 1. Officials had expected to officially release the form on December 1 but pushed up the opening date after conducting four testing phases. “The results throughout the beta testing have been really encouraging,” said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on a call with reporters. As of Tuesday morning, 167,000 applications had been successfully submitted.
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The United States has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, on the grounds it would not have secured the release of hostages.