On October 1st 2025 Congress failed to pass a spending bill that would decide federal funding until October 1st 2026. Because this bill did not pass, all parts of the federal government that are considered nonessential including the Department of Education, have closed.
According to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, 13 percent of 2024’s public education funding came from the federal government. Since the majority of school funding is state or local, the effects of the shut down will not be enough to completely close down schools however, there will be repercussions.
According to the Department of Education’s shut down plan, released on September 29th only five percent of employees will continue working under the shutdown at one time. This will reduce the efficiency of the department’s ability to complete its daily duties, like financial aid, grant creation, and managing grants.
Within the Department of Education, grants and programs are split into mandatory and non-mandatory. Mandatory programs and grants will continue to function under the government shut down, as they are required to by law.
Programs like the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) fall under the mandatory category, and will continue to be maintained through the shutdown. However, programs like the Office of Civil Rights which enforce and investigate civil rights matters in schools, will be halted during the shutdown because they are deemed non-mandatory by law.
There are programs outside of the Department of Education that will directly affect students when they close for the shutdown, like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will have to rely on temporary state funding. According to the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities 68 percent of SNAP recipients in Missouri are a part of a family with children who go to K-12 public school. Families who depend on SNAP will now have to rely on schools to feed their kids until the shutdown is over.
The government shutdown will disproportionately affect vulnerable populations such as people of color, kids with disabilities, and lower income families as they are the main recipients of federal programs and grants.
