Is using the FAFSA beta testing form for 2025-26 safe or will we lose our data?

I actually work in financial aid at a community college and can clarify this. The FAFSA beta testing is primarily for identifying bugs and UI issues before the official launch. Any data you enter during the beta period will NOT transfer to the official release on December 1st. The Department of Education is very clear that beta testers should expect to re-enter all information once the official form goes live. They're not saving application data from the beta testing environment to the production environment.

my sister did the beta last yr for the simplified fafsa & she said everything got deleted when the real one launched. total waste of time imo

I tried the beta form yesterday and it actually crashes halfway through the parent contribution section lol. Definitely wouldn't recommend.

I'd recommend waiting until the official launch, but there is ONE benefit to doing the beta - you can get familiar with the new questions and required documentation. Even though you'll need to re-enter everything in December, going through the beta can help you identify what information you're missing now, so you're fully prepared when the real form opens. Just take screenshots or notes as you go through it.

If anyone needs to speak directly with the Federal Student Aid office about the 2025-26 FAFSA plans or beta testing, I highly recommend using Claimyr. I was stuck on hold for hours trying to confirm details about the beta testing, then found this service that got me through to an actual FSA agent in under 20 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. Their website claimyr.com made it super easy. The agent confirmed that beta testing data won't transfer but gave me some other useful tips about the upcoming changes.

Anyone know if the beta version has the new SAI calculation method? I heard they changed how they calculate student aid index for 2025-26 but I can't find details anywhere.

I wouldn't trust ANYTHING about the FAFSA system right now!! The 2024-25 rollout was a COMPLETE DISASTER. Schools didn't get data until MARCH for a form that opened in December!!! Thousands of students lost out on first-come-first-served aid. Now they're asking us to be guinea pigs for their next version?? No thanks!!!

Just to add a bit more context about the beta testing: The Department of Education is specifically looking for feedback on the new Student Aid Index (SAI) calculation interface and the contributor permission process. If you do participate in the beta, there's actually a feedback form you can submit that might help improve the final version. While your data won't transfer, your feedback could help make the system better for everyone. That said, I still recommend most students wait until December 1st unless you're particularly interested in providing technical feedback.

As someone who's going through this process for the first time, I really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences! It sounds like the consensus is pretty clear - wait until December 1st for the official launch. I was initially excited about getting ahead of the game, but losing all that data entry work would be so frustrating. I think I'll take KaiEsmeralda's advice and maybe just do a quick run-through of the beta to see what documents I need to gather, but I won't actually spend time filling everything out completely. Better to be prepared and do it once correctly than rush and have to do it twice!