How Will the Government Shutdown Impact College Admissions?
October 20, 2025
The current government shutdown, which began on October 1st, 2025, is already one of the longest in history. While the Senate attempts to come to a bipartisan agreement on a stopgap funding bill (or 鈥渃ontinuing resolution鈥�), the rest of the government鈥檚 many agencies and departments have been stripped down to a skeleton crew. Not only have many federal workers been furloughed, but the President鈥檚 Office of Management and Budget has also used the continuing shutdown to issue RIF (or reduction-in-force) notices, firing thousands more federal workers.
As the shutdown now stretches well into its third week, students and families may be wondering how these changes will impact the current college admissions cycle, as well as the higher education landscape more broadly. Will prospective students have issues submitting FAFSA? Will current college students鈥� financial aid be impacted? Are there any other student-facing government programs that have been affected by the shutdown? We鈥檒l get into all of these questions and more below:
The Department of Education鈥檚 鈥淓ssential Functions鈥�
Prior to the government shutdown, the Department of Education (ED) issued a , outlining how it would respond if the government were indeed to shut down. With the exception of layoffs in certain offices, the ED has been able to follow this contingency plan thus far. Around 87% of the ED staff has been furloughed since the start of the shutdown.
The ED鈥檚 stated essential functions, which it intends to continue through the remainder of the shutdown, include:
- FAFSA: This cycle鈥檚 launched in late September, a week ahead of schedule, and continues to be working as normal. Most of the processing of FAFSA applications is now automated, which should mean that both submission and processing won鈥檛 be impacted by the limited ED staff.
- Student financial aid: The ED also states that it will continue to disperse student aid funding, such as Pell Grants and Federal Direct Student Loans, during the duration of the shutdown. Individuals with student loans will also still be required to make their regular payments during the shutdown.
- Grant funding: States, schools, and other grantees who were awarded funds during this past grant cycle will still be able to access their funding. The ED stated that they will pause grantmaking activities during the shutdown, but that this will not affect current grantees.
Other important federally funded college search resources, such as and are also currently up and running (these resources have been impacted during past shutdowns).
Could these “essential functions” be impacted if the shutdown continues?
Yes. While all of these essential and nonessential resources are available and functioning at the moment, it should be noted that the longer the shutdown continues, the more likely it is that any or all of these will be impacted. While automated processes may not be impacted, any technical issues鈥攔egarding FAFSA, student financial aid, or grant funding鈥攚ill be much harder to resolve with an extremely reduced staff. Students and families should expect that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to reach staff in any of these offices directly. It is also almost certain that any online resources will not be updated during the course of the shutdown.
What’s going on with federal layoffs, and how are they impacting higher education?
Another important aspect of this government shutdown鈥攚hich is unlike shutdowns of the past鈥攊s that the executive Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has fired thousands of federal workers, many of whom were already furloughed. It should be noted that , on Tuesday, in reference to the RIF notices: 鈥淲e are closing up Democrat programs that we think that we disagree with, and they鈥檙e never going to open again.鈥� He has also of additional 鈥渆gregious鈥� programs on the chopping block, should the shutdown continue. Whether these layoffs are retaliation or intimidation, to force Democrats to acquiesce to the Republican budget proposal, may be neither here nor there. The administration was already planning to implement more and deeper cuts to the federal government, and the shutdown seems to have provided the ideal (if not entirely legal) excuse.
There are several offices within the Department of Education that have been most impacted by these layoffs, three of which could have serious repercussions for current and prospective college students:
OSERS:
The is the ED office responsible for special education programs such as IDEA, which guarantees students with disabilities access to public education and related support services. OSERS supports students from early childhood through postsecondary education. The OMB is reported to have issued RIF notices to over 100 staffers in OSERS, functionally eliminating the office (employees were told they would remain employed until December 9th). While Education Secretary Linda McMahon clarified that no special education funding would be impacted by the layoffs, the overall functioning of the Office and programs like IDEA will certainly be impacted by an elimination of nearly all the people who administer those funds. The gutting of OSERS has the potential to impact millions of students with disabilities and their families.
TRIO:
The are a series of interlocking education access programs targeting low-income, first-generation, and otherwise marginalized students, and supporting their educational trajectories from middle school through graduate studies. These programs鈥攚hich include Upward Bound and Talent Search鈥攈ave wide bipartisan support, and assist almost 900,000 students per year. But the OMB fired nearly the entire 60-person TRIO staff in the latest round of RIFs. Without a central staff to distribute funding and provide oversight, the thousands of locally-rooted TRIO programs around the country鈥攁nd the students they serve鈥攁re likely to be severely impacted.
OCR:
The ED鈥檚 is the office responsible for handling any federal civil rights complaints, bias-based misconduct, and ADA noncompliance in schools, including public colleges and universities. The ED鈥檚 shutdown contingency plan already instated a pause in OCR鈥檚 review and investigation of complaints. But the shutdown鈥檚 layoffs have now significantly reduced the OCR鈥檚 staff, which means that the backlog of civil rights complaints will be even more difficult to get through once the government reopens. OCR was already one of the offices most impacted by the mass layoffs in March of this year. In January, OCR had 12 regional offices. After these latest RIFs, sources say there will only be one or two with any remaining staff.
Is it legal to conduct layoffs during a shutdown?
Whether these layoffs will hold up legally remains to be seen. On Tuesday, October 14th, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking a pause to the layoffs. , granting the unions鈥� request for a temporary restraining order on current and future RIF notices during the shutdown.
But the President is almost certainly going to push back on that decision, if not ignore it entirely. Earlier this year, during the federal government鈥檚 last wave of mass layoffs, the Supreme Court that had attempted much the same thing as Wednesday鈥檚 decision. With the precedent already there, it鈥檚 hard to imagine this temporary restraining order lasting very long.
However, there is one alternative route that arose on Wednesday. Many Democrats are hoping to work into the appropriations discussion. This would mean getting a commitment from the administration to reverse those recent layoffs before the government opens up again. Aside from the fact that the administration seems unlikely to agree to anything of the sort, this new demand may complicate an already complicated negotiation process within the Senate.
What happens now?
How long this shutdown will last, or what the final costs will be, are both impossible to guess. While there is still hope that some of the reductions to key offices and program staff will be reversed, either in the courts or congressionally, this is not a guarantee. And the administration is likely to continue slashing offices, programs, and resources that don鈥檛 align with their priorities.
While the shutdown and ensuing layoffs may not yet be having an immediate impact on the daily needs of students, that is likely to shift as the shutdown continues. We recommend that students and families stay aware of any changes to offices and college access programs that might affect them, in case the reductions-in-force are indeed upheld. Even after the government reopens, we anticipate that the impact of these slashes will be felt by millions of students and families around the country.
