The Trump Administration temporarily pause certain Federal Financial Assistance Programs in late January. This pause was rescinded by the administration just a day later. For the short time it was active, this order froze trillions of federal grants and loans, causing widespread confusion among American citizens, as the memo sent out was vague on what specific services would be affected. Many people in particular were scared about the effect this freeze might have had on student loans, specifically the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.
The Department of Education later confirmed the freeze had no effect on student loans or financial aid for college. Mark Stephens, the Assistant Vice President of Financial Aid at Pace University, provided more comment.
“Thankfully there is no pause with regard to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form,” Stephens said. “The 2025-2026 version of the electronic FAFSA form was live and available for students and their parents to complete on November 21, 2024 (10 days before the Department of Education’s goal) and there has been no interruption.”
Stephens confirms that Pace University and its students were not affected by this freeze, with no delay on awarding or disbursing federal, state, or institutional aid.
“It is important to share that most federal “student” aid programs were not implicated/a part of the proposed freeze. Federal Pell Grants, Federal Student Loans nor Federal Parent Loans were in jeopardy.”
President Trump’s reasoning behind the freeze was to put a stop to any fraud or abuse occurring in parts of big bureaucracy. It was also not meant to affect programs such as food stamps, Social Security, and Medicaid, though the freeze did unintentionally affect the Medicaid system by locking Americans out of systems that paid for federal grants. That was part of why Americans were sent into a state of confusion after the freeze was enacted.
So while student aid and federal loans were not affected, Stephens said the university will keep an eye out for any future changes, made by the President or otherwise.
“We will continue to monitor any policy changes and provide updates to the Pace community.”