Howard president defends university’s unenrollment decisions amid backlash

Some students criticized the university's communication about the deadlines.

After gaining national attention for unenrolling more than 500 incoming first-year students over missed tuition and financial-aid deadlines, Howard University has reinstated over 200 incoming students, according to the university's interim president.

In an interview with Stephanie Ramos on ABC News Live on Wednesday, interim President Wayne A.I. Frederick offered new insight into the university's perspective amid intense backlash from students.

"We looked at students who were able to give us the documentation we were asking for in the first place, such as evidence of an external scholarship, and also students were able to remit payment, and so we took that into consideration despite the fact that it was late," Frederick said of the decision to re-enroll students.

"Having said that, we have now reviewed all 502 students, and so most of the decisions, if not all of them, have been made," he continued.

Asked if overenrollment was a contributing factor in the university's decision-making, Frederick told ABC News that all students who were unenrolled previously had housing assigned to them and that this was not a matter of "bed capacity."

He said the reason for holding students to the payment deadline is that the university wants to avoid putting students in financial situations that would prevent them from finishing their degree, citing Howard's four-year graduation rate at under 70%.

"We really are trying to do our best to make sure that when students start, they can finish. And this is part of what we must do on the front end because I think having them leave without a degree and with debt is not the right thing as well," Frederick explained.

Multiple students who said they were unenrolled spoke with ABC News, saying they do not believe the university communicated with them effectively.

Dwayne Irvin, a 19-year-old from Missouri, told ABC News that he was blindsided by Howard's decision to unenroll him. He said he had been communicating with the university's financial aid office about pending outside scholarships and plans to enroll in a payment plan.

"They told me to wait to enroll into that payment plan until that scholarship has been deposited into my account, so my monthly payments could be cheaper. I said, OK, that makes sense. So I went with that route...A week later, I get the email saying I was out," Irvin said.

Frederick expressed a willingness to improve the university's communications but defended Howard's actions.

"Over 2,200 students, families did exactly what we expected them to do and followed the policies and procedures and met the deadline, which means that I feel that our communication was pretty comprehensive," Frederick said, adding, "We certainly need to recognize that we have to enhance our communications and really support our students even more."

Nikiyah Clark, a 17-year-old from Ohio who was set to enroll at Howard as a first-year this fall, said she was told by the university that she was not permitted to re-enroll this year. She said she had missed a tuition payment deadline, but told ABC News that she had only received notice of the deadline the day it was due.

"I tried to hold back tears as I walked out of the building. I tried to compose myself, but I couldn't. I was so sad. I was very hurt," Clark said, adding "It was a very disheartening situation, considering the fact that I worked so incredibly hard to get to earn my place at the university."

Frederick told ABC News that the university will hold enrollment space in next year's class, and transfer and deferral opportunities for unenrolled students.

"We will still make every attempt to keep those students within the Howard family," he said.

Those new enrollment processes have not yet been publicly detailed by Howard.

Irvin said he had been told about these options, but will not be re-enrolling. However, the family of Mason Farmer, another student who was unenrolled, told ABC News that the university had told them there was no more space for him to enroll this fall.

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