Help Heaven Stay at Howard

Hi! My name is Heaven Upshaw-Peters and I'm a rising Junior at Howard University from Macon, Georgia by way of Orlando, Florida. I'm a first-generation student from a low-income family and getting into and attending Howard is truly an answered prayer. I'm the first of my siblings to go to a four-year college and I want to finish and start a legacy for my family.

I'm studying Elementary Education with plans to teach after I graduate. Eventually, I'd like to transition to educational leadership and possibly policy, and then one day, open my own K-12 private school and preschool with an HBCU framework that encourages students to be inquisitive and do their own research, to study the humanities and arts, as well as STEM, and to be well-rounded, worldwide scholars committed to bettering society!

On June 4th, I, like many other Howard students, received an email notification that we needed to pay the remainder of our balance off by June 31st or our accounts would be sent to collections where we'd face a drop in our credit scores and have to pay high interest rates on our balances, while still not being able to enroll for the coming semester. With lots of outcry from us students and invested parties, the deadline has now been extended to the first day of classes, but the threat of collections still remains. This, in-part, has been caused by the lack of communication between students and the bursar and financial aid offices. I've been contacting my financial aid office, in-person and through email, since my freshman year about receiving a TEACH grant and I've gotten very little response back, even when I sat and waited for hours. Furthermore, since receiving the email I've looked into Parent Plus loans and several private loans, but no federal aid (loans or grants) is being processed for past semesters, and I'm not eligible for any private loans. I've worked as hard as I could this Summer and continue to do so every day, but I won't be able to pay my balance down by the start of the semester without help. The opportunities I've had and the incredible people I've met at Howard are some of the greatest gifts I could ever ask for. I've worked so hard to get as far as I am and I'd like to continue my education at Howard and graduate in May of 2027 like I'd planned, so I'm asking for small donations to help reach my goal of $9,000 so I can begin my junior year on time.

It was really hard to find the courage to ask for help like this so I truly appreciate anyone who took the time to read this and thank you for giving what you can!❤️