The Nevada Board of Regents is allowing students to defer their tuition payments with no penalty if they are federal employees affected by the four-week-old government shutdown, or are financially supported by federal workers who are going without pay.

The board voted unanimously to approve a resolution on the topic Friday afternoon, after Gov. Steve Sisolak made a surprise appearance at their meeting to advocate for the policy. Sisolak had sent regents a letter over the weekend requesting such a change.

“It’s very concerning that if the students or children of the workers are forced to miss a semester and break the continuity of their education that we’ll get them back into the system,” Sisolak, a former regent, said at the meeting.

The resolution calls on college presidents to “temporarily defer the fees and/or tuition and permanently waive any late penalty associated with that deferral for those students who are enrolled in courses for the Spring 2019 Semester and who can reasonably show that they are a federal worker impacted by the shutdown or are the financial dependent of a federal worker impacted by the shutdown.”

It also asks presidents to seek out any other ways of helping students who may have to withdraw from school because of shutdown-related financial hardships.

For students at UNLV and the University of Nevada, Reno, tuition and fees for the Spring 2019 semester are due Friday. Payments come due at the other institutions soon after.

The directive applies until 30 days after the shutdown ends, or the end of the Spring 2019 semester — whichever is sooner.