In a plot twist that could only happen in the U.S. education system, the federal student loan website, StudentAid.gov, took a nosedive right after a series of layoffs at the Department of Education. Imagine trying to submit your FAFSA form, your golden ticket to financial aid, and getting hit with a tech meltdown. If this isn’t the classic case of ‘you get what you pay for’ when it comes to cutting essential services, we don’t know what is.

Hundreds of users flocked to Downdetector to air their grievances, stating they faced outages that left them in digital limbo. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators reported that users were struggling to complete the form necessary for aid.

Allie Bidwell Arcese, a spokesperson for NASFAA, was just as perplexed, stating, “We’ve been trying to get more clarity on why it’s down”. Spoiler alert: the Education Department isn’t saying much, but it’s a pretty safe bet that the layoffs played a role. Staffing cuts have been brutal; the Department’s headcount has been slashed in half since Trump waltzed into office.

Details have emerged that over 300 jobs were axed, including a significant chunk from the team responsible for maintaining the FAFSA. Yep, you guessed it: the entire tech team that kept this crucial system humming was sent packing. Laid-off employees are still technically on the payroll, until March 21, but with no access to critical systems, they might as well be on a deserted island.

By Wednesday evening, the site made the valiant effort to let us know that “Planned Maintenance” was occurring, but who are we kidding? With a tech team MIA, the website’s status seemed more like a bad joke than anything reassuring.

This crisis follows a string of technical hiccups the Biden administration faced regarding the FAFSA form, meant to simplify the process but somehow managed to confuse and miscalculate more than a few financial aid applications. Advocates warn that these frustrating experiences have deterred thousands from pursuing higher education altogether.

In a time where student financial aid should be flowing like coffee at a local café, we’re left with students scratching their heads and second-guessing their collegiate dreams.

The conclusion? When tech cuts meet education, chaos is bound to unfold. And it’s the students who pay the price. We can only hope that next time, they’ll save the cuts for something truly useless, like pens in a digital age.