How Could Government Shutdown Affect Financial Aid?

As bill heads to House, students could see financial aid delay if the shutdown were to continue

Original piece published in MMC’s The Monitor.

As the current government shutdown becomes the longest in US history, some students could begin to feel financial pressure. While most students’ financial aid is unaffected, some government agencies have seen a slowing of processing times.

A government shutdown occurs when Congress fails to pass or the president refuses to sign a spending bill to fund the federal government’s operations. 

So far, MMC students remain largely unaffected; however, recipients of Veterans Affairs benefits may witness slowed processing times. The government has released a statement explaining that at this point, there is minimal impact on financial aid in its processing.

“It all depends how many people they will continue to furlough,” Asline Zayas, MMC’s Associate Director for the Office of Financial Aid said. Currently over 600,000 government employees are at home with no pay.

“We are just hoping that at some point that the government decides that we have to do something to make sure this doesn’t continue,” Zayas said. 

As far as MMC finances, the shutdown will only delay processing.

“What may have taken two to three days processing for FAFSA may take a week or two,” Zayas said. 

For those who may have a unique payment plan or expect monthly allocated funds from the government, the Office of Financial Aid requests notice so they can have information on record.

“We have been telling students that if they know that they are going to be receiving funds in the future to provide a statement or their eligibility notification from the program,” Zayas said. “Then, Student Accounts can take that into account. That way, there’s a notation that something is coming.”

If the shutdown continues further, the Student Accounts Office will have to determine what happens if the funds don’t come in. They have yet to discuss how long of a delay they will support students for and if they will allow them to register. 

In comparison to the last US government shutdown, there isn’t much of a difference in regards to MMC financial aid. Other programs, however, such as SNAP benefits are faced with further uncertainty.

“Delays of the FAFSA form – I think that’s where we’re going to be experiencing it if it continues,” Zayas said. “That may be the most major impact.” 

The 2026-2027 FAFSA has already been released, and graduating high school seniors may already be seeing delays. If a shutdown were to occur over an admissions period, students could experience a delay in their admissions, or in financial aid award letters, once they’re admitted to their schools.

“There’s nothing much that we can do besides waiting,” Zayas said. “Our offices are always working with students on a daily basis, explaining what they can do if there is a delay.”

Financially, students should continue to function as normal. To stay ahead of any future delays and to keep track of their accounts and stay up to date, students should start to fill out the FAFSA now.

“Students should keep track of their information through FAFSA and by logging into studentaid.gov to keep any news on their records,” Zayas said. “Just keep up with making sure that information is accurate: address, phone number, email address – any future notifications from the federal government, that’s usually how they get released.”