How long will the government closure last? History provides clues
The US faces the possibility of a closure. Previous closures lasted from a few days to a month.
- Potential government shutdowns are looming as lawmakers are stuck in the 2026 federal budget.
- The Department of Education plans to dump about 95% of its non-federal student aid staff in its first week.
- Student loan payments will continue to be paid, and Pell’s grants and federal direct student loans will continue to be paid.
The Department of Education, alongside other institutions, is preparing for the possibility of government shutdowns as Democrats and Republicans remain stuck in the 2026 federal budget.
Democrats want to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidy, but Republicans aim to stop undocumented immigrants from receiving federal health benefits, requiring 80 hours of work or volunteer services a month to qualify.
The deadline to avoid a shutdown is midnight on October 1st. Without a transaction, “non-essential” government functions will close or reduce staffing from 12:01am
The department plans to dump about 95% of its non-federal student aid staff in the first week of the shutdown. The department also plans to dump about 85% of the Federal Student Aid Office staff, leaving 115 employees to perform important work for the office.
The threat of a shutdown comes after President Donald Trump’s administration cut about half of the department’s workforce in March, and credit scores for millions of borrowers fell behind in payments.
More issues will arise if Washington delays contracts for a long time, according to Persis You, the assistant executive director and managing counsel at the Student Borrower Conservation Center.
“This moment is actually very important in the student loan cycle because we are in the cusp of millions of borrowers who default on student loans,” Yu said. “Borrowers need more services than ever.”
Something that never changes
Shutdowns do not allow borrowers to make loan advancements, as they require payments to excellence in their student debt.
According to the department’s contingency plan, the department will continue to pay Pell grants and federal direct student loans.
If available, permanent and multi-year budgets will also be used to continue processing federal student aid or FAFSA free applications, the plan says.
Betsy Mayotto, president and founder of the Student Loan Advisors Institute, said borrowers should be able to ask questions to loan servicers and vendors during the short shutdown.
“What’s suspicious is whether the shutdown lasted very long, that is, if it was weeks or months,” Mayotto said.
Private student loan lenders and servicers, which generally operate independently, should not be affected by the closure.
What will change
During the funding process, the department will suspend new grantmaking activities. However, the plan states that most departmental grant programs “usually award awards in the summer, so the impact is limited.”
Debt relief programs and initiatives can also be affected if staff are unable to process their applications. On September 16, the Federation of American Teachers (AFT) filed a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against the department, claiming it had suspended the cancellation and processing of statutory necessary loans for public service loans.
“It’s really urgent for borrowers who have already given the right to cancel their loans to ensure that cancellations are processed by the end of the year,” Yu said. “If not, they could face thousands of dollars of extra tax liability.”
President Randy Weingern said the shutdown would make “an already interfering situation” much worse.
“The shutdown means that there will be even less monitoring of loan servicers, ending borrowers’ help when things go wrong, and exacerbating the already broken and understaffed system,” Weingarten said in a statement to USA Today. “Over 1 million borrowers with applications sitting on someone’s desk will see even greater delays.
Borrowers with disputes over loans may have difficulty reaching the department with most staff, Yu added.
“Navigating the conflict is already difficult and likely not possible in the case of a shutdown,” she said.
What borrowers should know
Yu said advice to borrowers will remain the same during the closure. Find out who your servicer is and keep records and try to change plans every time you reach out to pay.
“Do everything,” Yu said. “If things don’t go well, that’s very important.”
Mayott said most borrowers “do not feel” the shutdown if the previous shutdown continues as long as it has.
“Remember that most of the features are done by external vendors, and will at least continue for the foreseeable future,” Mayotto said. “If for any reason the shutdown continues for a very long time, start paying attention to the dusttantaid.gov website and see if anything changes.”
If the shutdown continues for more than a week, the Director of Budget Services in the Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development Office will be responsible for coordinating the department’s plans.
Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@usatoday.com Follow her at x @rachelbarber_
