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For the second consecutive year, the ��ݮ��Ƶ was selected by the U.S. Department of Education to lead beta testing for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The initiative aims to improve the user experience with a streamlined and simplified form.

The board was chosen to represent Arizona in the initiative, joining California, Florida, Mississippi and Washington, D.C., to test the updated FAFSA form ahead of its scheduled Oct. 1 launch. Through this effort, the Federal Student Aid office will gather feedback from students and contributors, ensuring the form is user friendly and addresses technical issues before its nationwide rollout.

This year marks the first time in the last two FASFA cycles that the form is expected to launch on schedule in October following technical challenges with the updated FAFSA rollout. The beta testing serves as a final validation step before the 2026-27 FAFSA is available nationwide.

“Arizona is proud to lead the way to improve how students access financial aid,” said ABOR Chair Doug Goodyear. “In addition to our partnership with the U.S. Department of Education and the Federal Student Aid office, we’re working closely with the governor’s office to expand FAFSA awareness and statewide resources to support Arizona’s students.”

Last week, more than 350 seniors from Corona del Sol High School and their families participated in the one-day beta testing workshop hosted by the board in collaboration with the AZ FAFSA Coalition. The event transformed a typical school day into a pivotal opportunity to ensure students in Arizona and across the United States have easy access to the FAFSA.

To show appreciation to the students and families participating in the beta testing, the Arizona Diamondbacks donated 1,600 tickets while volunteers from the state’s public universities offered additional giveaways. The Diamondbacks also partnered with the board earlier this year to encourage FAFSA completion, across the state who completed the 2025-26 form. 

“The Diamondbacks are proud to stand with Arizona’s students as they take meaningful steps toward higher education,” said Derrick Hall, Diamondbacks’ president, CEO and general partner. “Supporting FAFSA awareness is more than a gesture — it’s an investment in the future of our workforce and community. We’re committed to helping students access the resources and financial aid they need to succeed and thrive.”

The workshop's in-person format allowed students to test the form across multiple devices, including smartphones, tablets and laptops. Key upgrades to this year’s form included instant verification with the Social Security Administration and a simplified parent email invitation process.

Students navigated the form in both English and Spanish, with technical support teams from Federal Student Aid on hand. Arizona State University then tested the submitted forms to ensure consistent data processing — a critical back-end validation step also monitored by Federal Student Aid staff.

Chris Cummings, a technical advisor for the FAFSA form who traveled from Washington, D.C., for the workshop, emphasized the value of student and parent feedback.

“Students can now complete the form in 10 to 15 minutes," said Cummings, noting a significant reduction from previous years. “Sitting side by side with real students, we are able to help them immediately if there's an issue, and we can learn so much more from their experience. We've been so grateful to work with the ��ݮ��Ƶ, Corona del Sol and community partners. The FAFSA experience takes a village. It takes a lot of encouragement, a lot of follow through, a lot of support, because it's a new experience for most students.”

Students like Rafael Garcia appreciated the streamlined process. "It was pretty simple filling out the form," he said. "The little information icons really helped me understand the questions and the support staff was really helpful."

Peter Granville, a fellow at The Century Foundation and a nationally recognized expert on FAFSA policy, observed the beta testing and praised the collaborative effort.

“States and high schools are essentially filling gaps where federal resources have been limited,” said Granville. “This whole ecosystem has to come together to make FAFSA work. With greater awareness of completion rates through greater data availability, we've seen a lot of governors and local leaders rally behind the FAFSA, which is wonderful.”

To learn more about the board’s FAFSA initiatives, please visit .