Unimpressed by online classes, college students file suits seeking refunds

They wanted the campus experience, but their colleges sent them home to learn online during the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, students at more than 25 US universities are filing lawsuits against their schools demanding partial refunds on tuition and campus fees, saying they’re not getting the calibre of education they were promised.

The suits reflect students’ growing frustration with online classes that schools scrambled to create as the coronavirus forced campuses across the nation to close last month.

The suits say students should pay lower rates for the portion of the term that was offered online, arguing that the quality of instruction is far below the classroom experience.

Colleges, though, reject the idea that refunds are in order.

Students are learning from the same professors who teach on campus, officials have said, and they’re still earning credits toward their degrees.

Schools insist that, after being forced to close by their states, they’re still offering students a quality education.

Class-action lawsuits demanding tuition refunds have been filed against at least 26 colleges, targeting prestigious private universities, including Brown, Columbia and Cornell, along with big public schools, including Michigan State, Purdue and the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Some of the suits draw attention to schools’ large financial reserves, saying colleges are unfairly withholding refunds even while they rest on endowments that often surpass $1 billion.

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