Howard University Employees Stole Financial Aid Money

Howard University Employees Stole Financial Aid Money

Howard University employees have been accused of inappropriately pocketing university funds. Last year, six employees were fired after an internal investigation found the financial aid office had misappropriated university-based grants to some university employees. The news was confirmed by the school’s president, Wayne Frederick.

Frederick shared in a statement, an outside auditor found that several university employees received grants in addition to discounts on tuition that exceeded the total cost of tuition and kept the difference. Employees took financial aid funds as students prepare to spend years paying off their loans.

The president said he was told in December 2016 that there may have been “some misappropriation of university-provided financial aid funds,” and launched an internal investigation.

The auditor found that between 2007 and 2016, university grants were awarded to some university employees who also were receiving tuition remission. The grants and tuition remission equaled more than the total cost of attendance, which allowed the employees to receive “inappropriate refunds.”

The grants came from institutional funds that help low-income students pay tuition. Frederick said the grants came from the university and were not federal or donor funds.

Tuition remission allows eligible employees or their dependents to receive discounted tuition at the university. Full-time employees eligible to receive tuition remission can take two classes per semester for free, according to the university’s website. Tuition at Howard for the 2017-2018 school year was $12,061 per semester, not including room and board.

In one story circulating, there were claims that financial aid employees at the university stole nearly $1 million in funds. Frederick did not comment on the reported amount.

Frederick said the issue was reported to the Department of Education in July 2017, and six employees were fired two months later for “gross misconduct and neglect of duties.”

Follow us: @theJasmineBRAND on Twitter | theJasmineBRAND on Facebook| theJasmineBRAND_ on Instagram