SomeUniversityStudentsWantSchoolstoReturnTheirMoney
Theywantedtoexperiencecollegelife,buttheiruniversitiessentthemhometolearnfromonlineclassesduringthecoronaviruscrisis.
Now,studentsacrosstheUnitedStatesaretakinglegalactionagainstover20collegesanduniversities.Theywanttheschoolstoreturnpartofthemoneytheypaidfortuition,mealplansandhousingcosts.Thestudentssaytheyarenotgettingthequalityofeducationtheywerepromised.
However,collegeofficialsrejecttheideathatstudentsareowedrefunds.Studentsarelearningfromthesameprofessorswhoteachoncampus,officialssay.Andthestudentsarestillearningcreditstowardtheireducation.Schoolssaythat,afterbeingforcedtoclosebytheirstates,theyarestillofferingstudentsaqualityeducation.
GraingerRickenbakerisa21-year-oldstudentfromSouthCarolina.Hefiledaclass-actionlawsuitagainstDrexelUniversityinPhiladelphia.Hesaidtheonlineclasseshehasbeentakingarepoorsubstitutesforclassroomlearning.Thereislittleinteractionwithotherstudentsorprofessors,hesaid.Andsomeclassesarebeingtaughtalmostentirelythroughpre-recordedvideos,withnoclassdiscussion.
Otherstudentsreportsimilarexperiences.AcaseagainsttheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,sayssomeprofessorsareonlysendinghomeworkassignments,withnovideoteachingatall.AcaseagainstVanderbiltUniversityinTennesseesaysclassdiscussionhasbeenaffectedandtheeducationalqualityofclasseshasdecreased.
Class-actionlawsuitsdemandingtuitionrefundshavebeenlaunchedagainstatleast26colleges,targetingprivateuniversities,suchasBrown,ColumbiaandCornell.Studentsalsohavebroughtcasesagainstlargepublicuniversities,suchasMichiganStateandtheUniversityofColorado,Boulder.
Severalcollegeswouldnotcommentonthecases.Butsomesaidstudentshavecontinuedtogetwhattheypaidfor.
KenMcConnellogueworksfortheUniversityofColorado.Hesaiditisdisappointingthatpeoplehavebeensoquicktotakelegalactiononlyweeksintothehealthcrisis.
McConelloguetoldTheAssociatedPressthatprofessorshavebeenworkinghardtoprovidethesamehighqualityeducationasthatoftheclassroom.
Headmitsthatclassroomandonlinelearningaredifferent."Weallwouldprefertohavestudentsonourcampuses,"hesaid,butnotedweareinthemiddleofaworldwidehealthcrisis.
OfficialsatMichiganStatesaidtheirstudentsarestilltakingclassestaughtbyqualifiedteachers.Andtheschoolisstillofferinglearningsupportservices,academicadvising,onlineofficehourswithteachersandlibraryservices.
EmilyGuerrantisaMichiganStatespokeswoman.Shesaysheruniversityhasspentmoremoneytomoveclassesonline.Sheaddedthattheschoolhaskeptitspromisetoprovidemeaningfullearningexperiences"atnoadditionalcost"tostudents.
OfficialsatDrexelUniversitysaidtheschoolhascontinuedtoprovidemanyacademicofferingsandsupportwhilestudentslearnfromhome.
Lawyersrepresentingstudents,however,saytherefundsareaquestionoffairness.
RoyWileyisalawyerfortheAnastopouloLawFirminSouthCarolina,whichisrepresentingstudentsinmorethan12cases.
Willeysaidhisofficehasbeencontactedbyhundredsofstudentsseekinglegalaction,andhisofficeislookingintoseveralpossiblecases.Otherlawofficestakingonsimilarcasessaytheyarealsoseeingarisingdemandfromstudentsandparentswhosaytheyshouldgetrefunds.
Alongwithtuition,thecasesalsoseekrefundsforcoststhatstudentspaidtousephysicalfitnesscenters,laboratoriesandotherbuildingsthatarenowclosed.Thelawsuitsseekrefundsthatcouldadduptoseveralthousanddollarsperstudentatsomeschools.
Lawyersareaskingcourtstoansweradifficultquestionasuniversitiesmoveclassesonline:Isthereadifferenceinvaluebetweenonlineclassesandthetraditionalclassroom
Supportersofonlineeducationsayitcanbejustaseffective.Anduniversitiessaytheyhavedoneeverythingtheycantocreatehigh-qualityonlineclassesinjustafewweeks.
Butsomeofthesuitssaythatthecollegeexperienceisaboutmorethancoursecredits.Theysaythereisavaluetothepersonalinteractionstudentsgetwithprofessorsandotherstudents,bothinandoutoftheclassroom.
Willeyaddsthatcollegesthemselvesoftenchargelowercostsforonlineclasses,whichhesaysisasignoftheirvalue.