I am writing to express my concern over the recent OP/ED article “Grinding to a halt” published in the BC Watchdog on Oct. 15, 2014 which provided some inaccurate information regarding financial aid during the government shutdown. In this article, Jon Whitley reports “…FAFSA has announced that they will not be processing applications for the duration of the shutdown. According to the official website, the loss of over 90 percent of their employees will have a “limited impact” on the function of the aid department.” A review of the official FAFSA website (FAFSA.gov) does not indicate there have been any delays to processing as a result of the government shutdown.
In fact, the website cites “In the event of a government shutdown, we anticipate that there will be limited impact to the federal student aid application to the FAFSA process, to the delivery of federal student aid, or to the federal student loan repayment functions.”
I want to reassure our students that we are conducting business as usual. Our office has seen no interruption to the processing of FAFSA applications and the delivery of financial aid to our students. If students have any questions or concerns regarding their financial aid they should contact our office. We are here to help.
Respectfully, Melanie Ruiz; associate director of financial aid