Eros Hoagland\/Getty Images\/File
People walk on the campus of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill on June 29, 2023, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By\u00a0Katie Lobosco<\/a>, CNN\u00a0;5 minute read; Published 2:39 PM EST, Tue January 2, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n Washington (CNN)<\/strong> – A long-awaited update to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as\u00a0the FAFSA<\/a>, was released on December 30.\u00a0<\/strong>But some families are having trouble accessing the online\u00a0<\/strong>form, which has so far only been available for short periods of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During what the Department of Education is calling a \u201csoft launch,\u201d the agency is monitoring site performance, conducting planned pauses for maintenance and making updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The FAFSA application was available for a 30-minute window on December 30, a 30-minute window on December 31 and a two-hour window on January 1, according to the Department of Education. More than 30,000 forms were successfully submitted during those times, and the form was reopened the afternoon of January 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n