School just started, and the 47th president, who is not our professor, has made college students stress like it’s the midterm season already.
A temporary pause for all federal financial assistance programs was supposed to take effect on Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. Federal financial assistance programs are defined as any federal program, project, service or activity the federal government provides that directly helps organizations or individuals.
Did you call your advisor worried about how you will pay for school? Many college students were anxious and worried about how they would be able to complete school or if they would receive their refund back! This pause sent me into an uproar because I am one year away from finishing school and utilizing federal aid to pay for my education throughout the school year.
One example of a federal financial assistance program is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. FAFSA is a resource that provides financial aid to millions of students each year. These funds can be used for books, tuition and other school expenses like technology devices.
The FAFSA could have been directly affected by this pause.
M-25-13 is an executive memorandum issued by the Trump administration that was directed toward federal agencies to temporarily pause loans and grants being awarded. M-25-13 states, “Each agency must pause: (i) issuance of new awards; (ii) disbursement of Federal funds under all open awards.” This pause would have affected awards funded to our current FAFSA and future accounts.
The Trump administration paused federal loans and grants to ensure that spending was completed according to the recent executive orders President Trump signed. Trump is trying to Make America Great Again! One of the ways he is trying to Make America Great Again is by ensuring the spending aligns with the recent executive orders. In the 2024 fiscal year, the federal government spent 3 trillion on federal assistance.
Shoutout to U.S. District Judge Loren L. Alikhan, who blocked the funding freeze with just minutes to spare before the order went into effect.
This pause spiked a debate for several days. It worried my peers and I, as he will be our president until 2028. We are worried about what’s to come in regard to our education. Will we have to pay out of pocket? If so, will we be able to afford it? I have even had thoughts about joining the military to be able to continue my education, if push comes to shove. This is causing my peers and I anxiety because of the unknown. If he has put a pause on us before, what is stopping him from doing it again? As of right now, my peers and I are taking it one day at a time and we hope everything works out in our favor!
