$2M Catholic University of America Settlement Resolves Class Action Over COVID Tuition Refunds

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The Catholic University of America has agreed to a $2 million settlement to resolve a proposed class action lawsuit that alleged the Washington, D.C.-based private university failed to provide students with proper refunds of tuition and fees after it transitioned to remote learning in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The official website for the Catholic University class action settlement can be found at CUACovidTuitionSettlement.com.

The deal, which was preliminarily approved by the court on September 19, 2024, covers anyone who was a Catholic University undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in the Spring 2020 semester; who did not withdraw by March 18, 2020; for whom any amount of tuition and/or fees was paid to the university from any source other than a scholarship, grant or tuition remission from the school; and whose tuition or fees have not been fully refunded by the college. The settlement website notes that those who received a full scholarship, grant or tuition remission, and thus did not pay any tuition or fees for the Spring 2020 semester, are not included in the deal.

According to the website, eligible class members will automatically receive equal shares of the $2,000,000 settlement fund if the deal is granted final approval by the court. A final approval hearing has been set for January 23, 2025 in Washington, D.C.

Settlement payouts will be issued to eligible class members after the deal is ultimately approved and any appeals are resolved.

The website shares that cash payouts will be distributed by check to each class member’s last known mailing address.

Head to this page if you want to provide an updated address or opt for electronic payment via Venmo or PayPal. You will need your unique Notice ID and PIN, which are typically found on the notice sent to class members to inform them of a settlement.

The class action lawsuit against Catholic University, filed in August 2023, explained that the school moved to online learning in mid-March 2020 and continued remotely through the end of the semester in May. The suit alleged that the university refused to offer adequate refunds of tuition or fees despite the fact that students were “deprived of approximately 46% of the in-person instruction, activities, and on-campus services” for which they’d already paid.

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