How the government shutdown will impact schools, student loans

With the federal government shutdown now in effect, administrators, students, teachers and families may be concerned about the impact on the Department of Education and how student loan borrowers could be affected if the shutdown continues in the days and weeks to come.

The Department of Education has already been gutted this year, since President Trump signed an executive order in March to shut down the department, and the federal agency has laid off nearly half of its workforce. The layoffs went into effect over the summer and approximately 80% of department staff are already furloughed.