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WASHINGTON — <\/span>A’Zariah Miles’ dream of attending Howard University was a few weeks from being realized. Then it all came crashing down.<\/p>\n Miles, 17, of Knoxville, Tennessee, is one of more than 500 incoming first-year students at Howard who learned this week that they have been unenrolled from the prestigious, historically Black Washington, D.C., university and no longer have spots for the upcoming fall semester that begins Aug. 17.<\/p>\n Many have taken to social media \u2014 some in tears \u2014 to share their stories. Some posts have gone viral.<\/p>\n After Miles learned she had been unenrolled, her mother, Kendra Miles, said the school’s automated system would not allow the family to enroll in a payment plan because the amount that was owed made them ineligible to sign up.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve reached out since we got the email (Wednesday). I’ve emailed, literally, everybody,” Kendra Miles said. \u201cI emailed her adviser. He responded and said it wasn’t a mistake and there was nothing they could do.\u201d<\/p>\n On Friday, Howard confirmed in an email that the school sent notifications to \u201c502 first-time-in-college students whose accounts did not reflect the required enrollment and financial obligations by the previously communicated deadlines.”<\/p>\n Starting in March, the unenrolled students began receiving specific communications about enrollment requirements, payment expectations and deadlines via email and orientation sessions, the school said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe university recognizes that timing differences may have occurred between when financial aid was reflected and when charges were finalized,\u201d Howard said in the email. \u201cStudents who believe their account did not accurately reflect their financial standing at the deadline should contact the Bursar\u2019s Office. Each case will be reviewed individually to determine whether adjustments or reinstatement are appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n Howard, one of about 100 historically Black colleges and universities in the United States, had an undergraduate enrollment last fall<\/a> of about 11,000. The average annual tuition<\/a> for undergraduate students living on campus is about $38,000. Housing costs are about $13,600.<\/p>\n Laverne Mickens coaches students and their families on how to apply for college scholarships. Mickens said that she answered more than 400 emails Wednesday and Thursday from students and families impacted by the enrollment situation at Howard. She said most of them were strangers and they were \u201cfrantic and crying.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are devastated,\u201d said Mickens who runs The Scholarship College Mama LLC, which is not affiliated with Howard. \u201cParents are saying: \u2018Can you help us? Howard unenrolled us.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n A’Zariah Miles, who plans to major in biology, chose Howard over other schools that accepted her. Now, she is worried that it is too deep into the summer to enroll elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody\u2019s housing is booked, or I can\u2019t enroll because it\u2019s too late or I missed orientation,\u201d she said. \u201cI’ve been trying to continue to have hope with Howard, but I don’t really have that much time before school starts and I don’t really want to have a gap year.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Miles and others, Saniah Collins learned Wednesday that she no longer was enrolled at Howard.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mom is part of a parent group chat,\u201d said Collins, 17, of Atlanta. \u201cThat day we learned that a lot of students were getting unenrolled.”<\/p>\n Collins received an email from the school Wednesday afternoon that said a July 10 deadline to pay her tuition balance or make payment arrangements had passed and the school no longer could hold her place.<\/p>\n But Collins said she was also told by an adviser that most of her balance for the fall semester was paid. She’s not giving up.<\/p>\n \u201cI worked like crazy to get into this school,\u201d Collins said. \u201cHoward has been my everything. My whole senior year, my whole summer I worked consistently on scholarships. We tried to make ourselves 10 steps ahead to make sure we were on the right page.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Williams is as member of AP\u2019s Race & Ethnicity team. He reported from Detroit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n