Federal Student Aid sites down for hours
Federal Student Aid sites down for hours following Education Department layoffs
Government website StudentAid.gov suffered an hours-long shortage Wednesday, delaying student loan and financial aid efforts.
Federal Student Aid hosts the online applications for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education grant, Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students, and other education financing options. These funds were briefly in limbo by a Jan. 27 guidance from the Office of Management and Budget but were ultimately never impacted.
This comes as the Education Department has already lost staff and will continue to lay off more. Of its initial 4,133 staff, 259 accepted a deferred resignation package, 313 accepted a $25,000 separation payment, and 63 probationary employees were let go last month. In addition, 1,315 more people will soon be laid off, leaving a little more than half the original workforce at 2,183. Among those laid off were about a dozen developers and IT staff per the Associated Press.
The Washington Examiner reached the Education Department for comment.
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Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said that her mandate from President Donald Trump “will be to put myself OUT of a job” in dissembling the department. Its budget will instead be dispersed to the individual state departments of education.
Even before McMahon was nominated, Federal Student Aid had seen shortfalls. The FAFSA Simplification Act was slated to begin January 1, 2024 but was delayed under then President Joe Biden. Instead, he opted to fast-track student loan forgiveness for 76,000 to the tune of $5 billion.
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