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Coordinating board and TASFA subcommittee outline 2627 online/paper updates, bilingual option paused
Summary
The FAAC heard plans for 2026–27 TASFA (2627) changes: a bilingual online flow was paused, but several alignment and usability changes are being made and testing is expected late summer/early fall.
Heather Fountain, representing the TASFA (2627) subcommittee, briefed the Financial Aid Advisory Committee on updates to the 2026–27 online TASFA and the paper TASFA form.
Fountain said efforts to build a bilingual toggle for the online 2627 application were put on hold, but several product and policy changes are moving forward to align the TASFA with FAFSA language and improve user experience. Specific updates include aligning dependency and parent higher‑education questions with FAFSA, updating homelessness language to mirror FAFSA, preventing selection of future birthdates, clearer aid‑year messaging inside the application, and batch‑file enhancements to include the application ID at the end of CSV/text outputs for easier institutional reconciliation.
Timeline and testing Fountain told the committee that testing for the 2627 online application is expected in late summer or early fall, with an anticipated launch October 1 if testing and review proceed on schedule. The printed 2627 paper form (English and Spanish) is under review and expected to be released for public review this summer.
ApplyTexas and counselor suite The subcommittee also asked the coordinating board to filter ApplyTexas counselor‑suite data so that counselor views return only current 2627 applicants (not previous academic years). Fixture changes were described to the board's internal admin portal to improve troubleshooting and to reduce callbacks from institutions.
Why it matters The committee emphasized that better alignment between TASFA and FAFSA language and improved batch outputs will reduce verification errors and make it easier for institutions and high‑school counselors to help students who lack Social Security numbers. Fountain encouraged committee members to participate in testing when it is released.
