Hundreds of incoming Howard University students from across the country say they were caught off guard just weeks before classes, after being notified they had been unenrolled because of unpaid balances.
The freshmen learned this week that they had missed a July 10 payment deadline and would not be permitted to attend the fall semester at the private HBCU in Washington, DC, ABC 7 reported.
Move-in for on-campus housing was scheduled to begin August 3, with the fall semester set to start August 17.
For Isabella Williams, the news arrived as she was preparing to leave Alabama on Thursday, her truck already packed for the trip to Howard, where she was expected to begin an internship with the school’s football team next week.
“Never in my life have I been so disappointed,” Williams said through tears in a video posted to Instagram. “Never in my life have I gotten so far and worked so hard for it to be stripped from me on a random Wednesday.”
Williams, who said she was accepted to 42 colleges, chose Howard University in May.
She said two guaranteed scholarships from Howard were still pending and were supposed to cover the remaining tuition balance due in July.
“I had two scholarships from Howard University. I had an $11,000 scholarship and a $16,000 scholarship that was directly from them,” Williams told the outlet.
She said she was as transparent with the school as she could be, sending them document proof that money would come in August and was told “everything was fine” and that her “scholarships could come through later.”
Williams said when she reached out to the university, she was told that there was “no way for us to come back,” and the school “suggested that we come back for another semester as a transfer student.”
“They gave a little bit of information about how to get scholarship reimbursement in the near future. Now, this was confusing for a multitude of reasons,” Williams told ABC 7.
Her Instagram post quickly went viral after being shared Wednesday, with hundreds of other incoming students coming forward to say they had received the same notice from the university.
Williams said her enrollment has since been restored after her post went viral.
The school later confirmed to ABC 7 that more than 500 students received the unenrollment notification.
Dwayne Irvin was just 12 days away from leaving his Kansas City, Mo., home to start at Howard University when he received the devastating news that he wouldn’t be attending the fall semester, NBC 4 Washington reported.
Another incoming student, MarLae’ Coffield, said she checked her account on July 11 only to find her balance was negative — meaning she had more money in aid and scholarships than she owed in tuition and that the university owed her the difference.
“I graduated early. I graduated my junior year and I had a 4.0, and I did all of that just to get into Howard University. And now I can’t go to Howard University,” Coffield told the outlet.
Howard University said it repeatedly reached out to students and families between March and July to inform them of the payment deadlines through emails, personalized financial aid information, videos and prep sessions.
“Howard University understands the concerns and challenges that students and families are experiencing related to the recent enrollment update for some first-time-in college students,” the institution posted on X Thursday.
Howard University said it is reviewing cases involving pending scholarship and financial aid applications and will issue refunds for any payments and scholarship funds already submitted, though the $800 deposits for tuition and housing will not be returned.
