Sep 09, 2014 04:49 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Kentucky State University (KSU) said it was forced to dismiss hundreds of students for not paying their tuition and fees.

According to USA Today, KSU released 645 students for non-payment, about one-fourth of the historically black university's student body. While the school said it had no choice, some students were disappointed in how the school handled the situation.

KSU Interim President Raymond Burse has said KSU aims at being a haven for low-income, first-generation students. Symone Williams, a senior nursing major, said the school's financial aid office was not forthright with certain information even though the school listed a drop date on its website.

"I was disgusted by the manner with which the university treated students," she told USA Today. "For many of us school is all we have, and to be thrown out with the trash felt like betrayal."

In an official release from the school, Burse said subsidizing the 645 students' tuition would have cost KSU $7 million. With the mass dismissal, KSU's deficit will be $1.5 million.

"This is terribly unfortunate, and we must take the necessary steps to protect KSU's financial stability," Burse said in the release. "We have done everything we can to help students who need it the most.

"The last thing we want to ever do is remove a student from enrollment, but the university cannot endure the entire burden."

Burse said the issue that led to the school's deficit occurred before he became the interim president. He said the previous administration let students pre-register and settle in on campus before collecting a single dollar. Burse told USA Today KSU will have to take immediate action to fix the enrollment process, but the mass dismissal was unfortunately the beginning.

"When I came in on July 1, I assumed that our registration process was like those I'd seen at many other institutions and I got a shock and a surprise," he said. "The practice around here was, at registration, you did not go through a single point where you pay your bills. Actually, if you pre-register, you can show up, get your ID card, get your meal ticket, move into the dorm and go to classes. So, we were always chasing our money."

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