Dear Colleague:
We are pleased to announce that the Learning Tracks available in the FSA Training Center have been updated with 2025–26 content as of June 30, 2025. Learning Tracks offer short, focused courses on single-item subjects in categories such as Awarding Pell Grants, Calculating Return of Title IV Aid, and School Eligibility. For 2025–26, there are 10 categories offering 34 different “tracks.”
Learning Tracks are award year specific. You are encouraged to complete training each year to keep your understanding of the topic current. Your Record of Learning will reflect this, and you will be able to download Certificates of Completion for completing the new year’s tracks.
In addition to updates and enhancements across all topics, we have added new courses to several learning tracks for the 2025–26 award year:
-
Basics of Academic Calendars in the Packaging Concepts track
-
Written Arrangements Between Schools in the School Eligibility track
-
Recordkeeping and Retention in the School Reporting track
-
FAFSA Data in the Use and Disclosure of Federal Tax Information and FAFSA Data track
We are also pleased to announce that the FSA Basic Training for New Staff training course has been updated with 2025–26 content on June 30, 2025. This asynchronous, online course is designed for newly hired, entry-level financial aid administrators (FAAs) as well as school officials from outside the financial aid office who want to learn how to administer the federal student aid programs. It can also be used as a comprehensive refresher course for more experienced staff.
By completing the 12 modules in this course, you will gain a basic understanding of the parts and pieces of federal student aid administration. The course is self-paced and takes 40–45 hours to complete, depending on your learning style and any familiarity you may already have with the material. We encourage you to complete the training over several weeks to have time to absorb and engage with the information.
Note: We also offer FSA Fundamentals Online, a training course that provides comprehensive instruction on the administration of the federal student aid programs. While these two courses are similar in content, they are designed for unique audiences and are also unique in course design. To ensure that you are enrolling in the course that is right for you, please view the short video titled “Fundamentals vs Basics: Which FSA Training is Right for You?” that is available from the “Start Your Training Here” icon in the center of the FSA Training Center homepage.
To access the updated content, log into the FSA Training Center with your username and password:
-
To access Learning Tracks, select “Learning Tracks” from the main menu bar. From the drop-down menu, choose a category, such as “Grants and Work Study.” Choose the track you wish to complete from the list of available tracks. Select "Start Here" to launch the track.
-
To access FSA Basic Training for New Staff 2025–26, select “Training Courses” from the main menu bar. From the drop-down menu, choose “FSA Basic Training for New Staff” and then select "Start Here" to launch the course.
Note: If you do not have a username and password for the FSA Training Center, scroll to the bottom of the log-in page and choose "Create new account." Follow the instructions to create a username and password.
We look forward to your participation in these training opportunities. If you have questions, please send an email to helpdesk.fsatraining@ed.gov.
Sincerely,
Federal Student Aid