Staff Writer- August von Seth

Since Oct. 1st, the United States federal government has been in a state of shutdown, meaning that functions deemed ‘non-essential’ have been suspended until further notice. Until congressional representatives come to an agreement on a funding bill, only ‘essential’ services operated by the federal government may proceed. Higher education funding is not among them.

In a written statement, Political Science Professor Christopher Gilbert describes the shutdown as bearing significant similarities to its most recent iteration, over which President Trump also presided. It lasted for a record-breaking 35 days.

“When you believe, as Trump clearly does right now, that the federal government should only do what the President wants it to do (a gross distortion of our constitutional system), then the government shutdown exists because Trump is fine with it. And it will end when he decides it’s worth ending,” Professor Gilbert wrote.

In May, the Trump administration terminated over 1,000 Harvard University grants worth close to $3,000,000,000 as part of a legal battle with the institution over allegations of antisemitism. Today, there are reports of an end to the dispute in the form of a $500,000,000 settlement. In response, other well-known colleges have increased their lobbying efforts.

According to Professor Gilbert, the executive branch harbors hostility toward higher education in the country, viewing it as “a problem to be brought under control.”

“So many institutions will face tough choices, and the end result is likely to weaken the ways in which US higher ed has benefited the nation and the world, contributing significantly to scientific progress and providing one path to upward mobility in an increasingly unequal society,” Professor Gilbert wrote.

He does not, however, see a major impact on Gustavus—a sentiment echoed by Dean of Financial Aid Mark Bauer.

“Right now, it’s really not affecting anything. All the processes we need in order to process student aid are still up and functioning because most of it is electronic communication,” Bauer said.

The Financial Aid Office processes financial aid for Gustavus students. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), federal direct loans, and Pell grants are the core components of awards that students are offered. During the 2024/2025 academic year, federal funding amounted to $10,628,850, a relatively small sum in comparison to institutional funding, such as college scholarships, which reached almost $67,000,000.

Another mitigating factor is the temporary nature of federal government shutdowns.

“What was determined was going to be spent for the 2025-2026 year, that was determined last January. It will continue on; it’s been appropriated by the government,” Bauer said.

There are, however, areas in which the federal government poses a more serious impediment to the office’s work, such as administrative bottlenecks and government inefficiencies. As an example, Bauer brought up the FAFSA Simplification Act passed by Congress in 2020, whose mandated changes ultimately did not go into effect as intended. The situation is made worse by slashes in the federal workforce.

“I believe it’s delayed because they don’t have the workforce to complete the tasks that we need them to complete,” Bauer said.

Neither does the college’s office for Research and Sponsored Programs—which specializes in external funding for faculty and student initiatives, such as research, scholarship, and curricular projects—find itself in a strenuous situation due to the shutdown.

“I’d say we are not necessarily experiencing any effects from the shutdown. For us, it’s been pretty much ‘business as usual,’” Assistant Director of Research and Sponsored Programs Megan Fillbrandt said.

The neighboring University of Minnesota has launched a special shutdown website listing “plans and resources in the event of a federal government shutdown,” detailing proactive steps taken to mitigate its consequences, like “working ahead” to submit invoices on federal awards. Fillbrandt speculated that Gustavus’s smaller size and private operation account for its relative resilience.

The office currently has 40 open awards, of which four originate from federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation. Funding from all four awards is secured due to them having already been approved.

“They range from $300-500,000. They’re large awards, but they’re typical for these agencies. They’re directly for the research. We put together a budget for these grants, and they’re personnel, pay, some have travel on them, materials, and supplies—actual expenses the college accrues,” Fillbrandt said.

Due to the shutdown, the office will have to wait longer than expected to hear from the National Institute of Health, a federal agency, on the status of an ongoing grant application. She noted that, in contrast to government actors, private foundations are fewer and far between, and thus a less reliable source of funding.

“It’s a different landscape. It’s not necessarily that it’d be more difficult in the sense that they don’t want to fund the work, it’s finding foundations that have that interest,” Fillbrandt said.

At Gustavus, the Provost’s Office is tasked with monitoring government actions related to higher education. Measures include reviewing executive orders issued by the President and attending webinars organized by other academic institutions. In a written statement, Provost and Dean Brenda S. Kelly shared the assessment that the college is able to absorb the limited impact of the shutdown. At the same time, individual students, faculty, and staff could be affected, primarily those whose relatives work for the federal government.

“If students are facing an individual situation for which they need support, we encourage them to visit the Dean of Students’ office for assistance or direction to another office/individual who can provide assistance or guidance,” Kelly wrote.

At press time, there is little indication that this year’s shutdown is coming to an end. While public institutions bear the brunt of a sudden halt to taxpayer funding, each day that passes without a national budget serves as a testament to the unique relationship between academia and the powers that be.