Analysis: Howard University Heading in Harm’s Way? - Higher Education: When Howard University began putting the final details on enrollment for the 2012-13 school year this time a year ago, it had no idea it would soon face a last-minute flood of students unable to enroll due to a tightening of requirements in a federal loan program for parents seeking to help pay their children’s tuition.
More middle income and poor households had been hit hard by the nation’s economic downturn since 2007 with family incomes falling fast and living costs continuing to rise, Howard and many of its peer institutions learned. With college educations, many financed with the federal loan called Parent Plus Loan (PPL) suddenly unaffordable, Howard and its peers saw fall enrollment drop by the thousands nationwide. The institutions’ anticipated income fell accordingly.
For Howard, the PPL decision by the United States Department of Education costs the university hundreds of students and roughly $8 million in anticipated income for the 2012-2013 school year. The PPL decision jolted the university just as it was resettling from a rough launch two years ago of a plan for downsizing and refocusing the university for the future.
