Dear Howard University Students,

We are writing to update you on the status of refunds the University is making to students of room, board, parking and certain other fees due to the disruption of on-campus services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and also regarding Federal CARES Act stimulus bill funds that have been allotted to Howard University for distribution to our students.    

As promised, Howard University initiated refunds of room and board and other fees to students covering the final third of the Spring 2020 semester in April. At this time, more than 70 percent of scheduled refunds have been processed via direct deposit or credit card accounts.

However, we are unable to process refunds for approximately 1,200 students because they either do not have direct deposit information set up in Bison Web, or the bank account number listed is incorrect. 

If you have not yet received your refund, we urge you to update your banking information in Bison Web so that we can disburse your refund as quickly as possible.  Please go to Bison Web -> Student Services -> Student Accounts -> Direct Deposit to update your information. Please note that we are unable to process these refunds as a check so we must have your Direct Deposit information in order to disburse your refund. Any questions regarding your refund should be directed to the Office of the Bursar at bursarhelp@howard.edu.

The University has also been notified that we will be receiving funds through the Federal CARES Act stimulus bill intended to be disbursed as emergency aid grants to students and we are developing an equitable distribution methodology to provide these funds to those most adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are planning to start disbursing these grants this month. 

However, we are currently awaiting clarification from the Federal government as to whether these CARES grants will be taxable.  Under the current language in the bill, it appears that students would be liable for taxes on their grant awards. If the grants will in fact be taxable, then the University will need to process disbursement through either its  payroll or accounts payable system in order to generate the required tax forms.  We are working with the Federal government to clarify their guidance and will update our students once we know a path forward.

Please know that we are working diligently to expedite this process as quickly as possible. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding as we all work through this unprecedented situation.  We will continue to provide updates as new information is available. 

Excellence in Truth and Service,

Michael Masch
Chief Financial Officer