ED: 2026-27 FAFSA Surpasses 5 Million Completions

By Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Managing Editor

The 2026-27 FAFSA form reached 5 million completions on Wednesday, according to the Department of Education (ED).

Education Secretary Linda McMahon noted that during last year’s cycle, there were roughly 2 million forms submitted by mid-December. However, due to the extended beta period for the 2025-26 FAFSA that form had only been fully live for about a month. The current FAFSA was launched ahead of the now mandatory October 1 deadline.

“Completing the FAFSA form is a critical first step in many postsecondary education journeys,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon. “Our extraordinarily talented FAFSA team has redesigned and streamlined the form, all while launching the earliest form in history – a huge win for students and families.”

According to the National College Attainment Network, their FAFSA tracker will be updated “in mid-December” and will compare the class of 2025 to trends for this current cohort.

“Because of this excellent work, the high school class of 2026 may reach the highest FAFSA completion rate ever, ensuring that more students will gain access to the Pell Grants that help make postsecondary education more affordable,” said National College Attainment Network CEO Kim Cook.

Publication Date: 12/19/2025

Elizabeth G | 12/19/2025 11:50:13 AM

The placement and scale of the 2026-27 FAFSA verbiage on the website overshadows the 2025-26 FAFSA link, which has led to many Winter and Spring 2026 applicants completing the incorrect application for the 2025-26 school year. This has always been an issue in prior years, but we've experienced it on a larger scale this year. It would be nice if ED would give the two applications comparable coverage on the website, with a little context for which application students should fill out. We provide this info on our college website, but students do not go to our college website first - they go to the FAFSA first.

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ED: 2026-27 FAFSA Surpasses 5 Million Completions

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