New York steps in after prestigious Howard Univ un-enrolls over 500 students over unpaid tuition

Just a few weeks before the first day of class, Howard University retracted the admission of 502 incoming freshmen, whom it says failed to pay tuition on time. Now, New York is opening up its public university system to affected students and offering $800 credits to offset non-refundable deposit costs.

The would-be incoming Howard students were notified July 22 by the school of their dis-enrollment, and many took to social media afterward to lament the situation. 

Several attributed their delayed tuition payments to waiting for private scholarships and other financial aid promises from Howard, a private school and one the country's Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced that affected students could instead apply to schools within the State University of New York system or the City University of New York. While the initiative guarantees admission only to New York residents, out-of-state individuals can receive expedited late admissions review at SUNY and CUNY campuses that have open space, according to Hochul.

“Hundreds of students, including New Yorkers, are scrambling and scared since they’ve been dis-enrolled from their intended college just a few weeks before classes are set to begin,” Hochul said. Each student will also receive an $800 credit from Howard in an effort to offset deposits, the governor said.

While the exact number of students is unclear, New York sent more students to the university than any state except Maryland last year, according to Howard's enrollment data. The school enrolled about 11,000 total undergraduate students last fall, with an average annual tuition of $38,000 for undergraduates who live on campus.

The prestigious university, which boasts a 35% acceptance rate and defines itself as the “leading producer of African-American students,” released a statement July 23 saying students who didn’t meet payment, scholarship and other financial aid deadlines were notified on July 22 that their enrollments were retracted.

“We recognize that some students with pending outside scholarships and other financial aid resources may have been impacted by the recent enrollment update,” the statement reads, adding that the school sent “multiple detail communications” via emails, personalized financial aid information, videos and preparation sessions from March to July to inform students and families of the steps necessary for securing enrollment for the fall semester — which begins Aug. 17.

“Howard has been my everything," incoming freshman Isabella Williams, of Alabama, told nbcwashington.com. 

Williams said she had scholarships to cover the rest of the balance and had sent documents to Howard informing the school that the money was coming in August.

"I put in so many hours, late nights, to apply for scholarships, to make sure that I could go to the school of my dreams comfortably. And to have that ripped away isn't fair," Williams also told the news outlet.

Laverne Mickens, who runs The Scholarship College Mama LLC (an educational consulting and scholarship coaching business) told the Associated Press: “People are devastated,” “Parents are saying: ‘Can you help us? Howard unenrolled us.’”

Howard's Senior Vice President for Enrollment Management, Keyana Scales, attributes the situation to a lack of resources.

“What we have since realized is that there are a number of students who have indicated that they have actually submitted the information or attempted to satisfy our requirements,” Scales said. “I think that the lesson learned here, to be completely candid, is we need to double down on resources."

Howard is now in the midst of re-enrolling dozens of students while school officials review appeals; as of Monday, 40 had been readmitted for the fall.

Interim President Wayne Frederick said in a CNN interview on July 26 that while it’s not uncommon for higher education institutions to rescind enrollments of incoming students who miss deadlines, Howard was stricter about enforcing the cutoff for this semester than in previous years.

Notable figures who attended the school include former Vice President Kamala Harris, first African American Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, “Black Panther” leading actor Chadwick Boseman and Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison.

Katherine Pugh is a reporter for Just the News. Follow her on X for more coverage.