WASHINGTON — The six employees fired last year from Howard University were “inappropriately awarded and/or received” roughly $369,000 from 2011 to 2016, according to a university report released Monday.
According to the university’s “Preliminary Investigation Report,” Howard’s own investigation into what went wrong is still underway. The report makes clear that last year’s firings were for misappropriating university financial aid, not federal aid. It’s not known yet if there were any problems involving federal money.
The dollar amount given in Monday’s report applies to a time frame shorter than what was specified in Howard President Wayne A.I. Frederick’s March 28 statement, which indicated misappropriation had occurred from 2007 to 2016.
Auditors found that university employees who received tuition remission also received grants. The combination of these actually exceeded the total cost of attendance. As a result, they pocketed the difference.
Meanwhile, the university has hired a consulting firm to review the financial aid office, come up with detailed policies and procedures, and then train employees on those rules.
University officials met last week with members of the U.S. Department of Education, which has started its own review of the way Howard handles federal financial aid.
“I want to assure you all that I am committed to getting to the bottom of this situation and to strengthening our financial aid policies and procedures to ensure that this never happens again,” Frederick said in a letter accompanying the report.
“It is my sincere belief that Howard will be an even stronger university because of the financial aid reforms we have implemented and will continue to implement,” Frederick added.
When news of the firings recently went public last month, it sparked a nine-day student protest and occupation of the administration building, which ended Friday.
WTOP’s Jack Pointer contributed to this report.
