Six Howard University employees were fired last year after an internal investigation found the financial aid office had misappropriated university-based grants to some University employees, the school’s president said Wednesday.
According to a statement from Wayne Frederick, Howard University president, 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.
Frederick 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 were also 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 receive two classes per semester, 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.
Frederick’s statement comes after an anonymous post on Medium.com claimed financial aid employees at the university stole nearly $1 million in funds.
For more details: nbcwashington.com
