Day of uncertainty for educational institutions, following freeze announcement

BEATRICE – Tuesday was a day of uncertainty for many agencies…perhaps panic for some. Questions arose across the U.S. as to how a Trump Administration executive order would affect federal support.

The action by President Donald Trump froze federal payments for various programs, up until a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump from doing so.

One of those paying close attention to the situation, were educational institutions such as Southeast Community College, where President Dr. Paul Illich told his board the school was getting as much information as it could.

"What we do know now, is that our Pell grants, students that receive Pell grants....those students will not be impacted. We're still studying everything that it might impact...again, we're just learning a lot. But, we do know it's not impacting those students and we are working with our students so if they have questions, we can answer those questions."

Associate Vice President of Student Enrollment Mike Pegram says the college was getting several questions from students concerned about the proposed freeze on federal funding….and the school was answering their questions and preparing to notify all students that Pell grants or loans apparently were not affected.

A federal judge blocked Trump’s pause in federal spending minutes before it was to take effect….pausing the freeze until Monday. The White House wants an across-the-board ideological review of federal spending.
The Administration said Social Security, Medicare, food stamps and student loans and scholarships were among things not affected.