Testing for the 2025-2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms began Tuesday. The Department of Education announced that there will be four beta testing stages before applications go live for all students before or on Dec. 1.   The first stage began Tuesday, where a small group of students recruited by six community-based organizations (CBOs) will begin testing and submitting the new FAFSA forms and the department will process them and send the forms to higher education institutions.   “We are grateful for the efforts of all our partners in this beta testing – CBOs, high schools, colleges and others — who are working so hard to ensure that the first group of participating students can begin submitting their forms Oct. 1,” said Jeremy Singer, the FAFSA executive advisor.   Each beta testing stage will take around two weeks, and more students will be added every time. Students in Betas 2-4 will be selected by 20 CBOs and governmental entities, including students in high school and different higher education institutions.   “The CBOs selected include organizations that work with students from low-income backgrounds, first-generation college students, mixed-status families, and students experiencing homelessness or incarceration, among others,” the department said in an announcement.  The students were also selected from different states and institutions such as two- and four-year public and private colleges, schools in U.S. territories, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and others.   The Education department chose a beta testing method after delays in the FAFSA rollout last year that set students and institutions back for months, causing an uproar in the higher education community.