FAFSA site sees outage after Education Department mass layoff
The studentaid.gov website was down for hours Wednesday after the Education Department laid off half its workforce.
Downdetector saw hundreds of users report the outage of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), used by students in or applying to college to receive financial aid.
The issue came a day after the Department of Education, which President Trump has repeatedly said he'd like to shut down, announced it was firing more than 1,300 people.
More than 300 people were laid off from the Federal Student Aid department, according to The Associated Press, which saw a list of those fired, including two dozen in the technology division for Federal Student Aid.
The site and forms are back up as of Thursday morning, but the department has not provided comment on what happened.
While a senior department official said none of the programs mandated by Congress would see big effects over the sweeping layoffs, former employees and those opposed to the downsizing of the agency don’t buy it.
“Trust me when I say that there are parents across this country who are going to be watching this very closely, and the minute there is not a direct compliance with statutory requirements, with federal law … this and every move will be challenged in court,” said Keri Rodrigues, the president of the National Parents Union.
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