With the 43‑day federal government shutdown concluded, K‑12 and higher‑education leaders are confronting delayed grants, frozen formula payments and administrative disruptions that will reverberate into next year. Head Start programs, Impact Aid and other monthly grant flows stopped during the shutdown; districts and colleges are now racing to reconcile late payments and the operational gaps that arose. At the U.S. Department of Education, employees whose layoffs were announced during the shutdown have been reinstated on paper, but staff and unions warn the agency may not return to business as usual. The lull in federal activity also created data gaps — notably missing economic and labor statistics — complicating higher‑ed financial planning and Fed expectations on interest rates. The episode highlights operational fragility: institutions reliant on federal disbursements must account for sudden interruptions to cash flow, and trustees should expect prolonged uncertainty over grants and reporting timelines.