Overview

• The federal shutdown began Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass funding, triggering agency furloughs.
• Education Department plans furlough roughly 87% to 95% of staff, including 632 of 747 at Federal Student Aid.
• Mandated aid keeps flowing through pre-funded contracts, so borrowers must keep paying and FAFSA remains open and processed after its early Sept. 24 launch.
• FSA staff cannot work through existing backlogs, leaving more than 1 million IDR enrollments and 74,510 PSLF determinations awaiting action.
• New grant approvals, civil-rights investigations and other regulatory actions are paused, and districts reliant on Impact Aid face immediate funding gaps.