,"We anticipate that key activities at Federal Student Aid will continue for a couple of weeks" after a shutdown.According to a shutdown plan the U.S. Department of EducationSo disbursing and servicing the federal loan program would continue. But not for long.The system has"a few weeks." Jean-Pierre told reporters,"a prolonged shutdown lasting more than a few weeks could substantially disrupt the return to repayment effort and long-term servicing support for borrowers.
Borrowers who have tried to reach their servicers in recent weeks may take issue with the idea that service today is anything other than a shambles already.This past Tuesday, for example: According to unpublished federal data obtained by NPR, one loan servicer had borrowers waiting on the phone an average of just over an hour. Another was even worse: an hour and a half. For both servicers, more than half of borrowers who called hung up before they got through.
When asked for comment, a spokesman for the largest federal student loan servicer, Nelnet, told NPR:"Since it became certain repayment would begin, we have hired hundreds of associates to support student loan borrowers... We expect hundreds of new hires will soon enter the security clearance process. We hope the essential clearance process is not disrupted by a government shutdown during this critical period for borrowers.
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