FAFSA Disrupted as Education Department Layoffs Cut 300 Staff, Including Tech Team

The federal student loan website, StudentAid.gov, faced an hours-long outage on Wednesday, following mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education. These layoffs, which included over 300 employees from Federal Student Aid, significantly impacted the department's technology division, including the team responsible for maintaining the FAFSA system. Hundreds of users reported issues to Downdetector, and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) also received complaints. A NASFAA spokesperson stated, 'We’ve been trying to get more clarity on why it’s down.' The layoffs reduced the department's workforce by half, leaving approximately 2,000 employees. The laid-off staff, although technically employed until March 21, had limited access to work systems, complicating efforts to address the outage. By Wednesday evening, the website displayed a 'Planned Maintenance' banner, but no official explanation for the outage was provided by the department. Reports indicate that a 70-person Teams call was convened to investigate the issue. The outage disrupted access to the FAFSA form, which is required for college financial aid, and comes amid broader concerns about declining freshman enrollment trends in U.S. colleges.