Howard University reinstates hundreds of students after mass unenrollment

The interim president of Howard University said over 200 of the more than 500 first-year incoming students who were unenrolled for the fall semester have been readmitted to the Washington, D.C. school.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Wayne A. I. Frederick defended the way the historically Black university handled the initial unenrollment, saying many students and their families apparently misunderstood the communicated financial obligations they were expected to meet before the start of instruction in August.

“There were no issues as far as what we communicated,” Frederick said, adding that the school had been clear since March about unpaid balances for tuition that were due by mid-July.

Students who were unenrolled for financial reasons had outstanding tuition balances after their financial aid and scholarships were applied, he said. Others were unenrolled because of unreported immunizations.

“I don’t think it’s just a simple matter of right or wrong. I think Howard adhered to its policies or procedures,” Frederick said.

As students learned last week that they no longer had spots at Howard, one of about 100 historically Black colleges and universities in the United States, dozens took to social media panicked about their next steps. Many wondered where else they would continue their education so close to the start of fall semester at most schools.

Some students and parents said they had trouble reaching officials at Howard by phone or email, leaving them unsure of how to resolve issues with tuition and housing assignments. Frederick acknowledged that the deluge of calls was overwhelming, but he added that emails were responded to.

He said the school started meeting and speaking with parents and students last week, which led to the reenrollments.

“We looked at several things,” Frederick said of the process for reinstating the students, including documents for incoming financial aid.

The school received about 37,000 applications for enrollment this fall. About 2,200 incoming students remained enrolled after 502 were removed last week, Frederick said.

Keana Johnson was one of the students initially unenrolled. The 17-year-old lives in a shelter for teens and young adults in New York City. A staffer at the shelter rode with her Wednesday morning by train to Howard to ask how she could be reenrolled.

She was told after speaking in person with a Howard official that her enrollment had been reinstated.

“I feel great,” Johnson told the AP. “I do feel there was a lesson to learn from this. I shed tears over this and I was really disheartened, at first, but I felt like I couldn’t give up. Until I really got the final say-so that I really couldn’t come, I couldn’t give up trying.”

Williams is a member of AP’s Race & Ethnicity team.