Howard University unenrolled 502 incoming freshmen on July 22, weeks before move-in. It has since readmitted more than 200 of them — a roughly 40% reversal of its own decisions. That number alone tells you the university got this wrong. These are families who had already committed to a school where the cost of attendance runs past $66,000 a year.

The handling of this entire saga was worse than the decision. Students learned by email that they had lost seats they had spent years earning. Families could not get through by phone. The deadline Howard enforced does not appear on its public-facing pages, and the university’s explanation has changed five times in nine days. For most families, paying the college bill is already the most confusing part of the process without a school moving the target.

There is also a second thing that is true at the same time, and it matters for every family reading this: some of these students did miss real requirements, and checking your student account is your job. Knowing how to read your financial aid award letter (and what it does and doesn’t guarantee) is part of that. Both things belong in this story.

What Howard University Got Wrong

The reversal rate. Howard removed 502 students, then restored more than 200 after review, interim president Wayne A. I. Frederick told the Associated Press. An institution that has to undo 40% of an action did not do enough review before taking it. Rutgers higher education professor Marybeth Gasman made the same point to theGrio: individual reviews should have come before mass notification, not after. 

The denial. In that same AP interview, Frederick said, “There were no issues as far as what we communicated,” and, “I think Howard adhered to its policies or procedures.” Two days later he issued a written apology. His own SVP of enrollment management, Keyana Scales, had already told WJLA that many students “have actually submitted the information or attempted to satisfy our requirements” and that Howard needed to “double down on resources.”

The moving target. Missed deadlines, then insufficient staffing, then retention rates, then nothing went wrong, then a sincere apology. Those are five different accounts of the same event and none of them help a family trying to work out what they actually owe and by when.

The undisclosed criterion. Howard’s July 23 statement cited only financial grounds, the category families would have been watching after reviewing their aid package. Frederick later told the AP that some students were removed “because of unreported immunizations”, a non-financial reason the university’s original public statement never mentioned.

The Deadlines That Just Don’t Add Up

Howard says it communicated deadlines from March through July by email, video, and orientation sessions. That may be entirely true. But a family trying to verify their status on Howard’s website would have found different dates than the one that cost 502 students their seats.

Most schools publish when tuition is actually due in one place, and families are told to rely on it.

• Howard’s Important Deadlines page lists one fall payment date: August 3, 2026. It draws no distinction between incoming and returning students.
• The fall payment plan (which Howard listed as an acceptable way to comply) opened June 15 with a first installment due July 15, a date confirmed in the 2026–27 Student Financial Calendar.
• Families report being told to pay 50% of the balance by July 10. That requirement does not appear on Howard’s bursar pages, payment FAQs, or official notice of charges. The only 50% rule Howard publishes covers third-party sponsors and is due November 30.
• Frederick’s statement refers to a “good-faith tuition payment” and “additional time beyond the original deadline.” Neither term is defined, and neither date is given.

Federal rules add another wrinkle. Under 34 CFR 668.164, a school cannot disburse federal aid more than 10 days before classes begin — August 7 for Howard’s August 17 start. Students relying on Pell, Direct Loans, or Parent PLUS could not have had that money posted in mid-July, because federal loans disburse on a schedule no family can accelerate.

Then there is the document. A slide posted to TikTok around July 26, presented as an internal Howard “de-enrollment strategy,” said the university’s goal was 2,400 first-time students and that it was “over by 300+.” 

The College Investor has not authenticated the slide, and Howard did not respond to our request for comment. 

The Part Families Need To Own

None of the above removes a student’s responsibility, and pretending otherwise would not help anyone reading this.

Howard’s requirements were not unusual. Nearly every college in the country requires proof of immunization, a housing deposit, course registration, and a settled or documented balance before you move in, alongside paying the mandatory fees that catch families off guard every fall. A student who never submitted immunization records did miss something real.

The problem is what Howard published as a requirement, what it did about unmet deadlines, and how little warning it gave — not that it asked. Frederick said the majority of admitted students completed the requirements on time, and the data supports that.

Colleges unenroll students every year. It’s a normal part of the college admissions process, sadly. But it’s usually dozens of students max – not hundreds. And the messaging and deadlines for unenrollment are crystal clear. 

Key Takeaways For All College-Bound Families

Log into your student account weekly between June and the first week of class. Do not assume aid is applied because you were awarded it: awarded and disbursed are different, and disbursement cannot happen more than 10 days before classes start.