Government Shutdown: Impact on Education Department and Students
The US Education Department is facing significant disruptions due to the government shutdown, which began on Wednesday. According to a department contingency plan, about 87% of its workforce will be furloughed, and many of its core operations will come to a halt.
The department’s management of the $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio will be largely unaffected in the short term. Student aid, including Pell Grants and federal loans, will continue to be disbursed, and student loan borrowers must continue making payments on their debts. However, investigations into civil rights complaints will stop, and the department will not issue new federal grants.
Federal Student Loans and Aid
The Office of Federal Student Aid will furlough 632 of its 747 employees during the shutdown. Despite this, the department will continue to process the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is a key piece of how colleges and universities provide aid packages to incoming students. Certain employees involved with rulemaking around changes to student loans will also be kept on to meet deadlines set by legislation.
About 9.9 million students receive some form of federal aid, spread across some 5,400 colleges, according to the department. The shutdown is expected to have a minimal impact on student loan issues, as borrowers work with loan servicers hired by the department rather than directly with FSA staff.
Impact on Schools and Grant Recipients
The Education Department serves as a conduit for billions of dollars of federal aid going to state and local education agencies. During the shutdown, the department will cease new grantmaking activity and pause its advisory and regulatory role to schools and grant recipients. However, most federal grants to schools were made over the summer, so the department expects minimal disruption to school districts and other grant recipients.
Some schools may see disruptions in payments, particularly those that receive Impact Aid, a program that bolsters school budgets in areas where federal land management or other activities reduce the amount of taxable land to generate revenue for the district. If the shutdown lasts longer than a week, the department says it would revise its contingency plan to prevent significant disruptions to school districts.
Civil Rights Investigations
The department’s civil rights branch will stop its investigations into schools and universities over alleged civil rights violations during the shutdown. The office has already operated under a significantly reduced footprint since the mass layoffs in March, which raised questions about its ability to shrink a backlog of complaints from students who allege they have experienced discrimination.
The department’s own data has shown a decline in resolving civil rights cases, while new complaints from families have increased. Work on pending cases will stop during the shutdown, which may further exacerbate the backlog.
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