Students across the country expressed relief after the U.S. Department of Education confirmed direct student loans and Pell Grants won't be stopped amid a broad federal funding pause ordered by President Donald Trump.

Education programs across the country have plunged into uncertainty and chaos after the Trump administration announced a federal spending freeze and government officials tried to soften the blow of a directive that started paralyzing agency functions.

Amidst a record-breaking surge in bans, the Trump administration's Office of Civil Rights calls the complaints a "hoax"

Educators, students and advocates across the Florida higher education system spoke out against the recent removal by the state of hundreds of general education courses that touch on race, gender and sexual orientation, calling the restrictions "censorship."