Cuts to the U.S. Department of Education raise concerns about access to FAFSA and other financial aid services for students. Photo by Felix Zheng.
MOLLY DURM | STAFF REPORTER | mdurm@butler.edu
With the significant cuts being made to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), students are increasingly concerned about how these changes could impact their access to financial aid. President Donald Trump’s second-term administration has made clear its intention to dismantle the DOE. As a result, the department’s workforce — including Federal Student Aid (FSA) staff — has been nearly halved leading to reduced resources, support and services for students across the country.
The Free Application for Federal and Student Aid (FAFSA) is a program that allows students to apply for federal financial aid and determine how much assistance they are eligible to receive to help cover the cost of college. Congressional laws require the FAFSA to remain available to students even amid the cuts to the DOE. However, the reduced staffing and resources within FSA have raised concerns about potential downstream effects that could negatively impact student needs.
Political science lecturer Ryan Daugherty highlighted the key operations that the department cuts will negatively impact, making them less effective for the students who need them.
“In general, it’s concerning on a lot of levels,” Daugherty said. “One is the fact that these cuts do represent services that people rely upon. So what this ultimately means is that those services are no longer going to be there, or they’re going to be so degraded that they don’t work nearly as well as they used to just six months prior.
Senior P-2 pharmacy major Casey Cho has utilized the FAFSA as a college student. She expressed her concerns for the future of college financial aid availability.
“I think this will have an impact on the future generations of college students because one of the main barriers to college is how expensive it is,” Cho said. “So it’ll definitely make higher education less accessible.”
The FAFSA has faced challenges in recent years after undergoing a revision by the Biden administration. The goal was to simplify the application process and increase accessibility, but the revision ultimately caused delays. This setback, combined with prior funding and systemic issues — as well as the recent department cuts — raises concerns about the efficiency of the FSA office. Potential effects now include delayed processing, reduced accuracy and slower response times, all of which negatively impact the assistance available to students.
Daugherty emphasized that while FAFSA itself is not currently being targeted, the cuts to the department will lead to major effects on the program.
“Sure, FAFSA might exist, but is the staff going to be there?” Daugherty said. “Naturally, if you cut half the staff, things that could have been addressed relatively quickly either will be addressed after a long time, or just won’t get addressed. You’re just going to get poor quality of service.”
Amanda Fishman, associate director of financial aid at Butler, emphasized that the university’s financial aid office is “closely monitoring” the changes happening at the federal level. She reassured students that Butler is “committed to thoroughly analyzing and responding to any potential downstream impacts” these changes may have on the Butler community.
Fishman explained the complicated structure that laws and regulations regarding financial aid must navigate before taking effect and noted the process is still unfolding.
“We’ll have a clearer picture as things develop further,” Fishman said in an email to The Butler Collegian. “The Federal financial aid puzzle is complex, with Congress having authority to create law but also to influence the dollars allocated for financial aid. It will be important to watch what Congressional action is taken regarding the nation’s budget for aid programs. The current administration also can impact this considerably if they re-assign responsibility for federal aid programs to different departments of the US Government.”
With the fate of FAFSA unclear at this time, Daugherty reflected on how this uncertainty will impact students’ decisions regarding their higher education.
“We’re kind of entering the great unknown with this,” Daughtery said. “Students are going to feel pressure to find a way to save money because they may not have clarity of what their financial aid is going to look like until too late in the game, which will influence where they decide to go to school.”
Butler’s Office of Financial Aid intends to continue student support to combat the impact of federal cuts.
Fishman emphasized that the office is aware of students’ concerns and is committed to supporting them during these uncertain times.
“If the federal aid infrastructure weakens, universities like Butler will need to be even more proactive, resourceful, and compassionate in their support of students,” Fishman said. “This will necessitate a multi-faceted approach encompassing increased institutional investment, enhanced fundraising, robust financial guidance, cost management, strengthened student support services and critically, active advocacy.”
As changes continue to unfold at the federal level, the future of financial aid services remains uncertain. While the FAFSA is still in place, the long-term effects of the department cuts may not be fully realized for months or even years to come. For now, students and educational institutions are preparing to adapt to a shifting financial aid landscape.
