The Education Department said it will continue to process FAFSA, which recently went live, amid the government shutdown.

Student aid will continue to be disbursed, but some local college officials say they are concerned that FAFSA system hiccups could go unaddressed.

The Education Department has opened the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2026–27 school year, even as the U.S. government remains shut down.

Here's how the federal government shutdown, which began at midnight on Oct. 1, will impact the Department of Education and student loan borrowers.

Consumer advocates criticized the department’s new focus on financial literacy, saying more pressing issues exist. In a CNBC interview, Carolina Rodriguez, director of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program in New York, said the move “diverts attention from the urgent need to resolve consumer complaints and systemic servicing failures.”

The Department of Education has shut down but for most former and current college and university students, it's business as usual.

It's become a staple of the college experience - the yearly tradition of filling out the free application for federal student aid, or FAFSA.With the recent laps

As the season begins for those applying for Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), students and borrowers in Richland have reasons to be optimistic despite the