No Changes to Student Financial Aid
January 28, 2025
Dear SMCCCD Community,
You may have seen the news about the January 27 memo (M-25-13) from the Federal Government’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding a “Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance.”
An important clarifying memo was sent out by the OMB today, documenting that federal financial aid to students will not be affected. Below is more detailed Q&A information provided by the OMB.
Q: Is this a freeze on all Federal financial assistance?
A: No, the pause does not apply across-the-board. It is expressly limited to programs,
projects, and activities implicated by the President’s Executive Orders, such as ending
DEI, the green new deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations that undermine
the national interest.
Q: Is this a freeze on benefits to Americans like SNAP or student loans?
A: No, any program that provides direct benefits to Americans is explicitly excluded from the pause and exempted from this review process. In addition to Social Security and Medicare, already explicitly excluded in the guidance, mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP will continue without pause. Funds for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance, and other similar programs will not be paused. If agencies are concerned that these programs may implicate the President’s Executive Orders, they should consult OMB to begin to unwind these objectionable policies without a pause in the payments.
In addition, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the administration’s freeze on federal grants and loans.
Given that this situation appears to be dynamic, San Mateo County Community College District and the California Community College Chancellor’s Office will continue monitoring federal executive orders and memos to provide updates to our community as needed.