It’s sad to see the current state of Howard. It’s not a local directional, but Howard (#135 in USNWR’s ranking of national universities) seems to fall somewhere between directionals and the top 20 schools that cause so much sturm und drang. The university is dealing with a lot of issues common to higher education institutions across the country. I thought this was an interesting look at those problems - it was certainly eye-opening for me.
I live near DC but had not heard of Howard being in “crisis”. This is an interesting synopsis of the issues the university faces - some prevalent among colleges and others somewhat unique to Howard. My heart certainly goes out to the students who struggle to finance their education. I hope Howard can work with them to help more of these students succeed in graduating.
Probably the part about the financial struggles of both the school and its students can be applied to many private schools with small endowments (hence tuition dependency and poor financial aid) and large numbers of high-need students (as opposed to the full pay students that some schools manage to attract to stay out of financial problems). Or poorly funded public schools where there is poor in-state financial aid.
@ucbalumnus Agree. Another major problem for universities like Howard is that many flagship state universities and private colleges are now offering substantial financial aid to black/URM students, in the process robbing Howard of its core constituency. And fundraising is a major problem, making it even harder for Howard to compete.
Another factor could be that Howard doesn’t get a sizable windfall from alumni donations (relative to the recent inflation in higher ed, anyway). A lot of its students go into jobs that help society more than they help the employee’s bank balance (teaching, social work, public service, etc.). Howard is punished because it produces more teachers and fewer traders than some other schools would.
The title of this thread is misleading. The “average college”, certainly not the average private college, does not get a direct federal grant of $221,000,000/year. Also, Howard has medical, dental and engineering schools that should be producing high earning alumni.
A few observations…
While I feel sorry for the young lady profiled , howard doesn’t owe her an education. The reality is she cannot afford Howard.
The hospital is bleeding money which is a huge reason for Howard’s deficits.
Howard does a HORRIBLE job of fundraising. I have a child there and they have NEVER asked for a donation. In fact howard has a TON of middle to upper middle class students and ther parents are never tapped. My son graduated from a PWI, and once per year, a student called and asked for a donation. I also know second generation doctors, howard grads who’ve said they’ve never been contacted.
Also, there seems to be enough racism left that few non-black students will consider attending a school that that high a percentage of black students (>90% for Howard). So that makes it more difficult for Howard and many other historically black schools to fill seats vacated when black students choose other schools.
I was at Howard last week for an admissions visit. I met one on one with a recruitment officer, as I generally do. I represent full-pay students. In my career, I’ve never spoken to an officer who made less effort to make me think she cared.
@ucbalumnus howard has no problem filling seats. The problem is a majority of the students there need financial aid.