Dear Howard University Community,

Recently, Howard University’s eligibility to provide veterans education benefits had been temporarily suspended by the District of Columbia Higher Education Licensure Commission (DCHELC). However, we are very pleased to report that, as of this week the DCHELC has fully lifted the suspension, with no restrictions to provide VA benefits to new students. 

The suspension was due to changes in the DCHELC’s standards of recertification that went into effect between our last recertification in 2019 and the expiration of that certification in 2021. Prior to the expiration of our certification, Howard prepared our recertification materials in Fall 2020, and we submitted all documents that we understood to be necessary for recertification in March 2021. One week later, the DCHELC informed us that their standards for recertification had changed and that our recertification submission was incomplete.  

Unfortunately, the comprehensive scope of the new requirements resulted in a missed secondary deadline established for June 14, 2021, which triggered our temporary suspension, preventing us from distributing certain benefits to new veteran students and students who receive veteran benefits. Since that time, we cooperated with all of DCHELC’s requests in an effort to return to full compliance. We communicated with our impacted veteran students and beneficiaries, and supported them by: 

• Postponing all due dates for tuition and fees payments until the situation was resolved;
• Making available resources to impacted students in the form of monetary advances, up to $3,000 (to support rent, books, supplies, etc.); 
• Increasing staffing to address the needs of our veterans; and 
• Ensuring that no impacted student veteran will be assessed a late fee on delayed payments. 

We are awaiting procedural information regarding when our impacted students can expect to receive their veterans benefits directly from the VA. Until that time, we will continue to make available the monetary advances to our veteran benefits recipients. A town hall will be scheduled to provide additional updates and information to veterans and their families. Details will be forthcoming.

While we are glad that the situation with our temporary suspension was resolved quickly, we regret any disruption or inconvenience this has caused our veteran beneficiaries. We will continue to work diligently in an effort to support our veteran students and students who receive veteran benefits.

We also will continue to provide frequent updates, and we stand ready to assist with questions that may arise. Please reach out the Office of the Bursar to access the options presented above or to inquire about your personal student account at bursarhelp@howard.edu.  

Our veteran students are highly valued members of our Howard University community who embody and exemplify our values of “truth and service.” We appreciate all the concerned messages we received on their behalf. We understand the anxiety that this has caused, particularly at the onset of the Fall semester. We are grateful that this situation has been resolved. 

Excellence in Truth and Service, 

Anthony K. Wutoh, Ph.D., R.Ph., Provost & Chief Academic Officer 

Cynthia Evers, M.A., Ed.D., Vice President for Student Affairs