RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Planning on attending college next year? Start getting your documents in order to apply for financial aid.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) opens in one week, on Wednesday, Oct. 1. Despite issues in past years, the U.S. Department of Education said it has been beta testing the application website to ensure their systems are performing as expected.

FAFSA is a free government application that uses students' and families' financial information to determine if a student can get financial aid from the federal government to pay for college. It also determines eligibility for work-study, loans and other federal student aid programs.

In 2024, the U.S. Department of Education launched a new version of FAFSA. Issues with the rollout caused major delays

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