Editor’s note: This information is current as of our deadline for print Tuesday night.
An executive order issued by President Trump on the night of Jan. 27 won’t affect Federal Aid given to students.
The order created nationwide chaos among officials and universities.
A memorandum from Matthew J. Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, and was titled “Temporary Pause of Agency Grant, Loan, and Other Financial Assistance Programs,” and was set to go into effect on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Central time.
However, a story by the Associated Press reports that, “U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan blocked the funding freeze only minutes before it was scheduled to take effect.”
The memorandum said that of the $10 trillion that was spent by the federal government, over $3 trillion was federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans.
It also said that the executive branch and the political appointees “…have a duty to align federal spending and action with the will of the American People as expressed through Presidential priorities.”
SDSU Campus Communication sent out an email Tuesday at noon, letting students know that they were aware of the memorandum and that, “SDSU administrators continue to work at understanding the impact this will have on the university, its staff and students.”
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Students’ Association Vice President Hayden Bentz said, “I’m sure there’s a lot of questions that students will have, I have a lot of questions myself.”
“I would just trust that all of the administration at SDSU is working as hard as they can to ensure that students are as minimally affected by this as possible,” Bentz added.
An article by the Associated Press said that universities everywhere were uncertain about how this would affect their students, faculty and research programs.
“Trillions of dollars are potentially under review,” according to the AP story.
SDSU University Marketing and Communication later sent out an email at 5 p.m. which said that the U.S. Department of Education confirmed the Title IV federal funding would not be impacted by the action of the current administration.
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This includes Pell grants, federal direct loans, work study, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity grants and Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education grants.
The email also said that, “State, SDSU and SDSU Foundation-sponsored scholarships are not impacted and will remain in place.”
“I wouldn’t go quite towards worrying about it before we have all the facts surrounding how it will ultimately affect students,” Bentz said. “We’ll likely have conversations soon with campus leadership to see how they might view any potential impacts occurring to students. We will be sure that any of those will be communicated as soon as possible.”
In regards to research grants, SDSU University Marketing Communication said that the memorandum will have all federal agencies review their financial assistance programs to determine what might be impacted.
Activities such as conducting merit review panels and other Notices of Funding Opportunities have been instructed to be paused. New awards are also not currently allowed to be given out.
An email from SDSU University Marketing and Communication said, “This remains a fluid situation. We appreciate everyone’s patience and will update you as information becomes available.”