Class Action Seeks Tuition Refunds from Georgetown University for COVID-Shortened Spring Semester

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A pseudonymous law student claims Georgetown University has unlawfully retained the full amount of students’ tuition and fees despite transitioning to online learning and effectively closing its Washington, D.C. campus due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The online education provided by Georgetown since canceling all in-person classes on March 11 through the rest of the Spring 2020 semester has been “subpar in practically every aspect” to the in-person experience students expected and paid for, the lawsuit argues. Beyond merely academic instruction, student’s tuition and fees were meant to cover access to faculty, campus facilities, and other materials and services provided by the institution, according to the case.

“Students have been deprived of the opportunity for collaborative learning and in-person dialogue, feedback, and critique, including but not limited to the discontinuance of internships and clinical placements,” the complaint argues. “The remote learning options are in no way the equivalent of the in-person education that Plaintiff and the putative class members contracted and paid for.”

The plaintiff claims that although the education provided by Georgetown for the second half of the Spring semester has “diminished in value significantly,” the university has failed to issue refunds for students’ tuition and fees. According to the case, Georgetown has retained the full $32,274 that the plaintiff paid to the university for the Spring 2020 semester in exchange for an in-person educational experience.

Echoing claims filed against colleges and universities nationwide, the lawsuit looks to represent anyone who paid Georgetown Spring 2020 tuition and fees for an in-person education that the school failed to provide and who has not received a refund.

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