https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/is-this-howard-universitys-tipping-point/2016/04/27/ff418fe4-f694-11e5-9804-537defcc3cf6_story.html
The layers of problems — some self-inflicted with leadership issues and financial turmoil — have been laid bare for a while. A trustee’s urgent letter about Howard’s crisis was leaked three years ago. The hospital’s chronic losses contributed to consecutive drops in the school’s credit rating, the most recent in June. And this fall students took to Twitter with a grievance campaign.
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It’s a troubling picture for a place that is a leading producer of African Americans who earn doctorates. Its business and law schools are highly regarded. The U.S. Department of Education just recognized it as one of 13 private universities that excel at graduating federal Pell Grant recipients in six years.
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The school is taking steps to put starch in its financial picture and its bureaucracy, officials say. One was the purge of “unregistered occupants.” In a “Letter from the President,” Frederick said the university was owed $22 million in uncollected tuition as of last spring. The school has started requiring students to have a zero balance to register or to pay one-third of their balance and be enrolled in a payment plan.
Education has to be paid for, students know, but some say it can feel like priorities are shifting, with focus less on them and more on business. “I think it’s really sad to see people with lots of potential not being able to get the proper education because of money,” sophomore Cydney Anderson said in an interview for @focusonhu on Instagram.
It's sad to see the current state of Howard. It's not a local directional, but Howard (#135 in USNWR's ranking of national universities) seems to fall somewhere between directionals and the top 20 schools that cause so much sturm und drang. The university is dealing with a lot of issues common to higher education institutions across the country. I thought this was an interesting look at those problems - it was certainly eye-opening for me.
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