When I heard talk of the government potentially shutting down, I honestly didn’t think much of it. I didn’t think it affected me, so I didn’t care. Last week, while in Accounting, and friend next to me began a small rant about the shutdown’s effects. He mentioned that, if we were a Wesleyan Federal Work Study student, we wouldn’t be getting paid—we are “nonessential.” Suddenly, it was real: I don’t have a meal plan on campus, so if I don’t get paid, I don’t eat.
How do you feel about the government shutdown? Perhaps you were like me. Maybe you’re the person who has been in-the-know this whole time, and you have a well-formed opinion of what should happen and how it should happen. Maybe you’re somewhere in the middle.
After the I-may-not-get –paid-this-month scare, I wondered, “What does the government shutdown mean for us as college students?” I did a Google search, and this is what I found out:
First, it may be best to explain why the government is shut down in the first place: because both sides couldn’t come to an agreement on setting up the fiscal budget.
According to an article on CNN, “Congress has one key duty…pass spending bills that fund the government.” The reason Congress can’t agree upon the spending bill is because a portion of Congress doesn’t support Obamacare, so they are making their best efforts to cut off funding to it. The other half is in full support of this plan, so they are sticking to their guns as well. Neither side will compromise. Since the date that the fiscal budget was due (September 30) came and went with no compromise in sight, federal agencies have no funding, thus the people who work for them are out of work indefinitely. (If you have family or friends that work for the FBI, for example, they can’t work and they aren’t getting paid.)
This could affect the economy, but the magnitude of this affect is entirely contingent on the length of time the shut down carries on. What are the immediate problems we face because of it?
The CNN article clarified, “The mail will continue to come. The military will continue to fight. And Social Security checks will continue to be paid. But if you need a federal loan to buy a house, you’ll have to wait. If you want a gun permit or a passport, that won’t happen anytime soon.”
Congress, the military, and the President will continue to be paid during the shutdown.
Now, what it means to us college students:
- If you are a work study student, you will still get paid, whether or not you are federal or college work study. That money has already been allotted, and there will be no delay in that at all.
- If you are a single parent, or a parent in general, and you’re putting yourself through college, now that certain child care/early development centers have been shut down, things could get hard for you taking care of your child while going to school (not to mention more expensive).
- If you are supporting yourself and/or living on your own and getting government assistance, until the government shutdown ends, you won’t be able to get that government assistance.
- Sexual Assault cases, like those at UNC-Chapel Hill and UVA, have come to a halt.
- Military academies are disrupted. Classes are cancelled and some are being sent home due to lack of funding.
- Scientific research that is considered “nonessential” has lost its funding. That means your lab classes may have lost their funding. This takes away from some class learning experiences. Some classes are entirely research, and that will be disrupted until an agreement can be reached by Congress.
- Scholarly resources aren’t up to date. A USA Today article says, “The websites for the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Data.gov, Fedstats.gov, and the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) are currently not up-to-date… The Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institute, and the National Archive…are closed.” Good luck writing that paper!
- Student veteran services are limited. They are still getting funds, but if they have questions about benefits, that hotline is shut down. Career counseling is also limited. Some students who are a part of the National Guard have been furloughed (i.e., let go on temporary, unpaid leave) until Congress figures these things out.
These are just a few ways that the unresolved government shutdown is affecting us as human beings and college students. How does it affect you the most? Discuss it in the comments below.