502 students lose spots at Howard University over tuition payments just weeks before classes start | CNN

A’Zariah Miles’ dream of attending Howard University was a few weeks from being realized. Then it all came crashing down. Miles, 17, of Knoxville, Tennessee, is one of more than 500 incoming first-year students at Howard who learned this week that they have been unenrolled from the prestigious, historically Black Washington, D.C., university and no longer have spots for the upcoming fall semester that begins Aug. 17. Many have taken to social media — some in tears — to share their stories. Some posts have gone viral. After Miles learned she had been unenrolled, her mother, Kendra Miles, said the school’s automated system would not allow the family to enroll in a payment plan because the amount that was owed made them ineligible to sign up. “I’ve reached out since we got the email (Wednesday). I’ve emailed, literally, everybody,” Kendra Miles said. “I emailed her adviser. He responded and said it wasn’t a mistake and there was nothing they could do.” On Friday, Howard confirmed in an email that the school sent notifications to “502 first-time-in-college students whose accounts did not reflect the required enrollment and financial obligations by the previous