Howard University is addressing outstanding tuition balances after students shared complaints on social media about unexpected bills for past semesters. The university switched to a new student platform, prompting at least 1,000 students to be notified that they still owed tuition for semesters going back two years in some cases. Many of these students posted their grievances on social media, garnering millions of views. Howard University said the students had owed the balances all along. Many of the social media posts resulted in thousands of dollars being raised to help students resume their educations after some said they could not continue at Howard without paying the debt.
Howard University said students’ accounts were delayed between January and June, and students were notified about data transfers between October and November. Half of the accounts with holds on them were resolved due to student payments, financial aid, or payment arrangements, and holds are being lifted on their accounts. Howard University also offered extended virtual and in-person office hours to help students.
