Bad News for 500+ Incoming Freshmen at Howard University

A'Zariah Miles' dream of attending Howard University was a few weeks from being realized—then it all came crashing down. Miles, 17, of Knoxville, Tennessee, is one of more than 500 incoming first-year students at Howard who learned this week that they've been unenrolled from the prestigious, historically Black university in Washington, DC, and no longer have spots for the upcoming fall semester that begins Aug. 17, per the AP. Many have taken to social media, some in tears, to share their stories; some posts have gone viral. On Friday, Howard confirmed in an email that the school sent notifications to "502 first-time-in-college students whose accounts did not reflect the required enrollment and financial obligations by the previously communicated deadlines."

Starting in March, the unenrolled students began receiving specific communications about enrollment requirements, payment expectations, and deadlines via email and orientation sessions, the school said. "The university recognizes that timing differences may have occurred between when financial aid was reflected and when charges were finalized," Howard said in the email. "Students who believe their account did not accurately reflect their financial standing at the deadline should contact the Bursar's Office. Each case will be reviewed individually to determine whether adjustments or reinstatement are appropriate."

The average annual tuition for undergraduate students living on campus at Howard, one of about 100 historically Black colleges and universities in the US, is about $38,000. Housing costs are about $13,600. Laverne Mickens, who coaches students and their families on how to apply for college scholarships, said that she answered more than 400 emails this week from students and families impacted by the enrollment situation at Howard. She said most of them were strangers and they were "frantic and crying."

"People are devastated," said Mickens, who runs the Scholarship College Mama LLC, which isn't affiliated with Howard. Miles, who plans to major in biology, chose Howard over other schools that accepted her. Now she's worried that it's too deep into the summer to enroll elsewhere. "Everybody's housing is booked, or I can't enroll because it's too late or I missed orientation," she said. "I've been trying to continue to have hope with Howard, but I don't really have that much time before school starts, and I don't really want to have a gap year." More here.