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After Howard University mishandled paperwork for student veterans, the District of Columbia State Approving Agency suspended the university, Military.com reported Wednesday.
As a result, student veterans who plan to attend the historically Black university this fall will not receive their tuition assistance or housing allowance -- two primary benefits of the GI Bill that enable veterans to attend college.
Howard's 60-day suspension took effect on June 15, following numerous complaints from student veterans that the university botched paperwork to the Department of Veterans Affairs. A spokesperson for the VA told Military.com that the department suspended Howard to give the institution time to "correct GI Bill approval deficiencies."
Howard hopes to resolve the issues and reverse the suspension by this weekend. But even if Howard is cleared, it's too late for students seeking tuition help for fall semester; the payment deadline was Aug. 9.
"This is not something we're very happy about; we expect this weekend to have a final decision on our status," Frank Tramble, Howard's vice president of communications, told Military.com. "From our understanding, there are new requirements that weren't there before. It's very unique to this year. We had to go on a 60-day suspension to complete the rest of the work."
The suspension does not impact currently enrolled student veterans, the VA spokesperson said.
