With the current funding lapse, many U.S. Department of Education (ED) offices are closed. However, Federal Student Aid (FSA) is seeking to maintain critical processing and services to minimize disruption to students, borrowers, schools, lenders, and guaranty agencies.
What Is Closed or Severely Limited
| Area | What Is Closed / Limited | Notes / Exceptions |
| Federal offices & ED regional offices | Closed during appropriations lapse | In-person operations suspended. |
| Communications & updates | Knowledge Center site updates are on hold | Only limited student-facing notices may appear on StudentAid.gov; routine updates will not occur. |
| FSA-staffed customer service centers | Closed / nonresponsive | Examples: the eZ-Audit contact center and School Eligibility & Oversight branch won’t field calls or emails until reopening. |
| Office of Consumer Education & Ombudsman | Unable to respond to requests | Pending and new cases may be delayed until the government reopens. |
| eCDR appeals processing | Submissions accepted, but no processing | The eCDR Appeals website is functional, but adjudication is paused until reopening. |
| Training events / webinars / conference travel | Canceled or suspended | All FSA training activities scheduled during the lapse are canceled; staff cannot attend conferences. |
| Certain grant/claim processing (e.g. HEAL claims) | Processing halted | Claims may be filed (in some systems), but no action will be taken until post-reopening. |
| Financial form processing & oversight | Some functions postponed | Audits, program reviews, compliance reviews will be deferred; eligibility actions submitted will wait for resumption. |
What Remains Operational (or Largely Unaffected)
- Customer service centers by contractors / servicers — Core operations at federal loan servicers (MOHELA, Nelnet, Aidvantage, CRI, Edfinancial, ECSI) continue: payments, contact centers, forbearance requests, billing, etc.
- Federal processing systems & student services
- COD (Common Origination and Disbursement) is fully operational.
- FAFSA system (FPS) accepts submissions; users can complete and submit the FAFSA.
- NSLDS (National Student Loan Data System) is accessible for authorized users.
- SAIG web portals are operational.
- G5 (fund drawdown) — after a scheduled downtime (to close FY25), it will be brought back online.
- School / institutional submissions — Schools can submit eligibility actions via FSA Partner Connect (though decisions will wait until reopening).
- Lender & guaranty agency operations — FFEL lenders and guaranty agencies maintain operations; some ED-side processing (e.g. form processing) may be paused.
Reference: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronic-announcements/2025-10-01/government-lapse-appropriations-federal-student-aid-processing-and-customer-service-guidance
