KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Students and financial aid advisers say they’re feeling optimistic this time around now that the new 2025-2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is open.
This year's form came after issues with glitches and delays last year, which resulted in some students getting their aid long after high school graduation and being concerned about not getting aid at all.
"I am feeling optimistic," said Kaitlyn Venta, the director of affordability for the Missouri College & Career Attainment Network. "I think there will still be some challenges; FAFSAs can be complicated, often because of a family situation or a student’s unique situation."
Venta knows the FAFSA well. She says last year wasn’t just a learning experience for students.
"We were all learning as we went last year, but this year, we've seen some of the problems, seen some of the challenges, know some work-arounds and know how to help families navigate the form better this year," Venta said.
Venta says some of the delays last year came from students filling out the form and the information just sitting instead of going to colleges.
Another one also came from people being unable to get through to call centers. Venta says the number of people at the call center has now doubled.
"Many of the fixes to last year's FAFSA that happened over the summer are still in place for the new FAFSA," said Scott Young, the director of financial aid at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. "They have updated the language to some of the questions to help with understanding and interpreting them appropriately and they have launched some new tools, like the Parent Wizard, which UMKC is now recommending to students, that helps them understand which contributors need to be included in the process."
UMKC students like Shewit Abai are feeling grateful, and not just because it’s Thanksgiving break.
"It ended up working out fine. I got everything fine, thank God,” Abai said about last year’s FAFSA process while laughing.
She can look back with a smile, but it never stopped being serious.
"Any amount of money is just so useful going to college," Abai said.
Abai's a senior this year, but she applied every year.
"I YouTubed a lot of stuff and I just looked a lot of stuff up," she said.
She wasn’t the only self-taught student.
"Some of the questions, I think were confusing, but I just had to look it up," said Arvesta Schine, a junior this year.
Schine and Abai were studying in the office for Multicultural Student Affairs on Monday. Abai is a peer mentor there.
"Getting involved, I was able to find out even more connections, networking with even more people, and that's how I found out about other scholarships," Abai said. "I even found out when FAFSA opened through working at the school."
Venta said the form has been tested nationwide since October to avoid glitches like last year.
"I don’t think it takes that long either," Schine said.
It took Venta 10 minutes.
The FAFSA was also supposed to come out Dec. 1 this year — instead, it opened mid-November.
"It’s a good sign that we’re moving up early, and I think unless there are other major changes to the form, I am very hopeful we’ll be back to October 1 next year," Venta said.
In 2020, Congress passed a law requiring the Department of Education to make the application process easier.
Venta says she knows Congress was working on passing a bill that required the FAFSA to be open Oct. 1, but that has yet to come to fruition.
With president-elect Donald Trump tossing around the idea of eliminating the Department of Education, Venta says she and other advisers are keeping a careful watch.
"We are all anxiously waiting to see what’s going to happen in terms of where the Department of Education goes because yes, Federal Student Aid lives within the Department of Education," she said. "So that pell grants, that student loans, that’s FAFSA, those will need a home somewhere, so we’re waiting to see what’s going to happen next."
Venta said despite the current form being open until summer 2026, it’s still important for students to apply as soon as possible.
"Any type of financial aid that you want to receive for college, you almost always have to do the FAFSA," Venta said.
That includes things like the Access Missouri Grant and the Pell Grant.
"We expect more students than ever to be eligible for federal financial aid, particularly the Pell grant," Venta said.
For more information about deadlines and where to get FAFSA help, visit MOCAN’s FAFSA website here.
A summary of the changes to the FAFSA can be found here:
A more formal PDF of the changes can be found here:
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