"For college aspirant Allison McFee, the 35-day federal shutdown might as well have lasted a full semester," The Kansas City Star writes. 

"That’s how long the partisan feuds in Washington have stalled her educational plans in Kansas City, Kan.

Like some other students, she hit a bump in applying for financial aid for January classes. The partial shutdown, which ended late in the month, had caused an online snag between federal databases.

But McFee had overcome so many challenges — landing temporary housing, putting drug problems behind her and mapping a new life course — that having to put off college until summer felt like hitting a wall.

'Things were literally falling into place for me. I thought it was all meant to happen,' said McFee, who will turn 20 in July.

McFee is one of 11 residents currently served by Hillcrest Transitional Housing for Youth. Hillcrest programs, which span the region, aim to help families and young adults out of homelessness.

McFee and three others at the youth facility saw their financial aid applications sputter or slip past deadlines at various learning institutions.

That meant trouble in two ways: Not only was their schooling threatened until loans and grants could be processed, so was their eligibility for free shelter and food at Hillcrest, which requires young clients to be on a path to graduation.

....

Anecdotal accounts pointed to lapses in information sharing and database matching among different U.S. entities, including the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Homeland Security, which can be included in the processing of student loan requests. Some applicants reportedly were unable to retrieve necessary tax documents from an idled IRS, for example.

'Each agency has posted informational memos stating that their websites will not be actively managed during the shutdown, information on their websites may not be up to date, and transactions submitted through their websites many not be processed,' according to an alert in early January by the National Association of Financial Aid Administrators."

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

Publication Date: 2/4/2019