When Nikiyah Clark finally received the keys to her Howard University dorm, she brought along just five boxes and a backpack. Just weeks earlier, the 17-year-old had been informed by the university that this moment would never happen.

After Howard administrators notified Clark — and hundreds of other incoming first-year students — that she was permanently unenrolled for missing a tuition fee deadline, she took a bus from her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, to plead with university officials. She departed in tears.

“I didn’t just lose my dream. I lost my way out,” said Clark, who viewed Howard as a peaceful environment and a vital route to financial stability after spending her childhood in “survival mode.”

Soon after, the university informed Clark that she was once again welcome to enroll. However, as she moved onto the Washington, D.C., campus on Thursday, she remained deeply unsettled. She expressed concern that the university could change its mind again and hoped Howard would implement changes to prevent other students from facing wrongful unenrollment.

“I’m definitely not really over that,” Clark stated.

While university administrators are eager for students, faculty, and alumni to shift their focus toward the new academic year, a significant portion of the community remains focused on the recent unenrollment debacle. The university confirmed that over 500 incoming first-year students were unenrolled due to a missed July tuition payment deadline. Approximately 200 of those students have since had their enrollment restored.

The scale of the unenrollments has drawn particular scrutiny at a moment of heightened national attention to college affordability and the administrative hurdles facing students who depend on financial aid. Students at HBCUs are disproportionately likely to be Pell Grant recipients and first-generation college students, populations for whom even short delays in aid processing can cascade into missed payment deadlines.

It was also reported on Friday that Howard's decision to unenroll these students occurred roughly a month after the institution offered voluntary early retirement buyouts to 600 eligible employees. Howard University issued a statement asserting that the employee buyouts were entirely unrelated, characterizing them as part of a broader strategy for “long-term financial sustainability.”

For some members of the Howard community, the incident has cast a shadow over the legacy of one of the nation's most esteemed historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Conversely, others argue that administrative missteps will not diminish the professional value of holding a Howard diploma.

Zy’Aira Blackmon, an 18-year-old from Grand Rapids, Michigan, had always aspired to attend Howard, widely regarded as the premier Black university in the United States. Yet, after having her enrollment status abruptly revoked and then restored within a matter of days, her perspective has fundamentally shifted.

“After this situation, most people are going to ignore all the good things Howard has to offer,” said Blackmon, who has since decided to study at Western Michigan University.

When Howard revoked 17-year-old Yuisa Davis’ enrollment, her mother, Karina Polen-Davis, immediately flew from the family's home in Puerto Rico on July 28 seeking answers. An administrative official told Polen-Davis and her husband — who was listening via speakerphone — that she could not address their concerns before calling security.

The Davis family maintains they had paid the outstanding balance they believed was owed, only to have the university rescind Yuisa's enrollment without explanation or any avenue for appeal. The institution refused to reverse its stance.

“It’s very disheartening just because there’s so many opportunities that’s kind of just been taken from me without me being able to” find a resolution, said Yuisa Davis, who had frequently visited the Howard campus during her childhood. She is now working with The New School in New York City to secure possible financial aid.

“The difference in how we’ve been treated has been night and day,” stated her father, Kenneth Davis.

Interim President Wayne A. I. Frederick told The Associated Press last month that Howard was simply enforcing its established payment policy, pointing out that 2,200 students successfully met the payment requirements. He asserted that the unenrolled students and their parents failed to properly review university communications detailing a July 10 deadline to pay at least half of their unpaid balance, factoring in financial aid.

Frederick argued that students who adhered to the guidelines “deserve to show up on Aug. 17, the first day of class and meet their professors in class, have their housing assignments taken care of.” In previous years, the university had struggled to secure adequate student housing and adjunct professors for its classrooms.

Despite the administration's stance, some students insist they strictly followed the payment requirements. Blackmon noted that her scholarship had not been applied to her stated balance — the kind of financial aid processing discrepancy that advocates have flagged as especially common during periods of heavy enrollment volume. Following her unenrollment, she persistently contacted the university. “They reinstated me. They really didn’t explain much,” she remarked.

Ashley Christopher, an attorney, Howard alumna, and founder of HBCU Week, a foundation that grants scholarships, believes Howard deserves a share of the blame. Her son is currently a sophomore at the university. She contends that the administration supplied students with “bad information.”

“There’s a way to take accountability for a misstep, and also explain that there’s joint responsibility here,” said Christopher. “It is not just the parents. It’s not just the students.”

President Frederick maintained that the university's management of the unenrollment and reenrollment process would ultimately reflect well on the institution.

“All this does is strengthen our legacy and helps us perform as a high-performing institution on the administrative side, as we have been doing in the past,” he stated.

At nearly 160 years old, Howard stands as one of approximately 100 HBCUs in the United States. Its prominent alumni include former Vice President Kamala Harris and the late actor Chadwick Boseman.

According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Howard boasts a 70% six-year graduation rate and a 90% retention rate. The institution is consistently ranked among the most prestigious private HBCUs, recently named the top HBCU by Forbes.

Annual attendance costs exceed $66,000, while the median income for four-year Howard graduates stands at approximately $73,000, based on Education Department data. Furthermore, Frederick highlighted that Howard has produced more Black doctors than any other educational institution in the country.

Despite the controversy, the unenrollment issue — described by Christopher as a “scandal” — is not expected to cause lasting damage to Howard's standing as “The Mecca” of Black education.

“Howard has been the blueprint for HBCUs, graduated the best and the brightest — not saying they’re the only one who does that,” she concluded. “When it comes to overall impact of HBCU institutions, Howard stands at the top of that list.”

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Tang reported from Sunnyvale, California. Williams reported from Detroit.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.