University of San Diego Students Seek Tuition and Fee Refunds for COVID-19-Affected Semesters

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The University of San Diego faces a proposed class action over its apparent refusal to issue tuition and fee refunds despite failing to provide the in-person education and services for which students already paid during this year’s semesters affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Per the case, the private school ceased providing in-person classes on March 12, after which the campus was effectively closed. The plaintiffs argue that while the decision to shutter campus life was necessary, the defendant’s failure to provide the educational experience and services for which tuition and fees were paid amounts to a breach of contract.

“Plaintiffs do not dispute that USD’s decision to cease in-person instruction was warranted,” the complaint states. “Plaintiffs ask merely to be refunded the money they spent for educational services that were not provided.”

The plaintiffs, students in USD’s paralegal certificate program, claim they received after the school’s March transition to online learning fewer hours and days of instruction than promised, and were denied access to the school’s on-campus facilities and programs. According to the case, USD held online-only classes for the remainder of the Spring and Summer 2020 semesters. In late July, USD announced that the Fall 2020 semester would be held online, the complaint notes.

In opting against in-person learning, the University of San Diego has attempted to “replace the irreplaceable,” i.e. on-campus life at an “elite university,” with virtual learning that the school has attempted to pass off as “the same or just as good” as full participation in campus life, the suit contests.

Nevertheless, tuition- and fee-paying students have been deprived of the opportunity to participate in “a wide variety of academic and student events,” including on-campus entertainment, facilities and athletic programs, in exchange for an inferior education, the plaintiffs say.

According to one of the plaintiffs, the school’s summer internship program was “not reasonably equivalent” to what was promised, and provided instead only an “education” instead of actual experience.

The lawsuit avers that an in-person education is worth more than an online one, noting that USD itself charges 41 percent less for an online version of one of its in-person programs.

The plaintiffs argue that while the COVID-19 crisis has had an effect on all individuals and institutions across the country, USD has failed to “apportion the burden in an equitable manner or consistent with its obligation as an educational institution” by refusing to provide pro-rated refunds for tuition and fees.

“USD is not entitled, by either contract or equitable principles, to pass the entire cost of its COVID-19 related closure to its students and their families,” the complaint scathes. “Plaintiffs and the putative class are entitled to a partial refund of the tuition, fees, and other related payments for in-person educational services, access to facilities, and/or related opportunities for which they paid that USD did not provide.”

The lawsuit continues a trend of cases filed against colleges and universities nationwide who’ve allegedly refused to provide tuition and fee refunds amid the COVID-19 crisis.

ClassAction.org’s coverage of COVID-19 litigation can be found here and over on our Newswire.

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