The FAFSA Soft Launch Has Not Gone Well

January 5 Update

Since we first published this post, a lot has and hasn’t changed. Read to the end of this update for important information about the weekend.

As we predicted the situation stabilized on January 2, when many parents and some students reported back to work or school.

The FAFSA office had more staff available.

The application has been available from roughly 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM (or later).

Before 01/02, the application was available for a total of three hours.

What is FAFSA Saying?

No sign of 24/7 access availability.

Reactions During the Opening Days

Needless to say, the near-total outage and major glitches did not go over well with students and their families.

Here’s a random sample of non-caustic comments made:

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2024-25 FAFSA-UPDATE

We’re presenting a 2024-25 FAFSA update to students and their families. This information is based on an email received at 2:36 AM on 12/02/23 from the FSA Partner Connect – Weekly Knowledge Center Update.

♦♦12/29/23♦♦

Below is what appears on the login page. The application should be live with limited access through the holiday weekend.

By now, you should know that the new FAFSA includes significant changes to income reporting and financial aid calculation.

If you’re unfamiliar with the changes, read our FAFSA 2024-25 Rundown. Watch the Education Unpacked “The Changes to FAFSA 2024-25 You Don’t Know About But Should” video to learn how these changes may impact you and how you can prepare and offset some of the negative impacts.

By December 31, 2023 is the only commitment made by Federal Student Aid.

December 31 is a Sunday before a federal holiday.

If the application is released on Friday, December 29, it is unlikely help will be available over the holiday weekend.

Historically, there have been hiccups during the early days of a new FAFSA application. This year may experience more widespread issues due to the first use of a new system.

12/15/23 Announcement from FSA Partner

The end-of-the-year FAFSA release will be a “soft launch.”

• Contributors may be placed in waiting rooms to avoid system overload.
• There will be periodic scheduled maintenance.
• Student/family information will be delivered to universities in late January.

When attempting to access the FSA Partners website, this is what appeared the last two weekends. Note: This is not the Federal Student Aid website, where students and their families file the FAFSA.

Click here for the complete announcement from FSA Partners.

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