$50,000 a Year to Attend a Mediocre HBCU that has Mold and Rodent Infested Dorms? Howard University Students Protest Housing Conditions with on-Campus Tent City

Dozens of Howard University students are sleeping outdoors in a tent encampment on campus grounds to protest what they describe as "poor" and "unlivable" conditions in the college dormitories. Howard University costs an estimated $50,000 per year to attend. [MORE]

Students told ABC News that portions of the university living quarters have mold and insect and rodent infestations, as well as leaky ceilings and flooding -- all of which they say put their health at risk.

Lamiya Murray, an 18-year-old freshman currently living in one of the tents, believes the mold that she said she spotted in her dorm room was responsible for a respiratory infection she battled earlier this year.

"I'm not going to say that I expect a lot more, I expect the bare minimum. I expect decent housing," Murray told ABC News. "I expect to be in a space where I will feel safe and secure, but the dorms became a health hazard. I was waking up every morning with a cough that I didn't go to sleep with the night before, and struggling to breathe at night."

Murray said her reports to campus maintenance have often gone unresolved. [MORE]