The federal government is expected to remain partially shut down through the new year, although the work of most agencies, including the US Department of Education’s processing of student loan payments through colleges and universities, will continue.
FYI: The Department of Education is not affected by the shutdown. You can still complete your FAFSA form and there is no impact on your school disbursing your funds. Remember to check your deadlines! https://t.co/ijT4djN1Lo pic.twitter.com/25dQ6tpJnv
— Federal Student Aid (@FAFSA) December 28, 2018
Colleges are still able to receive and disburse federal student aid funds, and students should still pay attention to federal, state, and school filing deadlines. You can find the state and federal deadlines at StudentAid.gov, but you should check individual school websites for their filing deadlines. The federal government advises students, even those whose deadlines are well in the future, to fill out the FAFSA as soon as they can.
President Donald Trump has insisted on funding for a border wall, threatening to close the southern border entirely if more than a billion dollars isn’t provided for the building of a wall. He tweeted Saturday that he was “in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come on over and make a deal on Border Security.” So far, little contact between the White House and Democratic leaders has been reported during the partial shutdown.
