Should there have been more tuition refunded to students last spring semester? While some are debating the topic, others are taking action.
A Bradley student has filed a lawsuit against the university arguing it should have refunded students their tuition dollars after it transitioned to virtual learning last spring for COVID-19.
The suit alleges that the school held back refunds and resources for students registered in the spring 2020 semester, therefore breaking its agreement set forth in the 2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog.
The freshman nursing major student, kept anonymous under the name “Jane Doe,” has filed for a class action lawsuit for those enrolled when courses switched online.
“Particularly, Plaintiff was promised in Bradley’s marketing that it would provide on-campus facilities and technologies that offer students the chance to work hands-on with state-of-the-art equipment with the oversight of in-person classroom instructors,” the suit stated.
Renee Charles, university spokesperson, told The Scout that Bradley doesn’t comment on on-going litigation.
Bradley is one of the many universities hit with a class action lawsuit. Universities such as Harvard, Carnegie Mellon and NYU are also facing legal action mostly from students or parents based on the school’s handling of the pandemic. In response to COVID-19, most campuses shut down in the spring and made changes to academics quickly.
The suit states, since the university extended spring break by one week without adding a week to the semester, Doe and others lost a week of education and resources without a change in tuition price.
It notes that tuition was more than universities with online-only learning. The universities with online education listed in the suit charge around one-fourth of the cost of Bradley’s tuition costs per semester.
Sending students back home and closing campus meant that facilities and in-person learning was the breach of that contract, according to Doe.
“Plaintiff and the Class would provide payment in the form of tuition and mandatory fees to Bradley, and in exchange, Bradley would provide in-person classroom instruction, and access to on-campus facilities, resources, technologies, and events for the Spring 2020 Semester, which was January 22, 2020 through May 15, 2020,” stated the suit.
The suit claimed that the plaintiff’s online learning was “subpar”and stated that professors had instructed less hours than expected while the workload was also cut down.
The nursing program saw significant changes in the curriculum last spring. Students in the program start clinicals in their sophomore year, but they had to see virtual patients online after spring break and did not receive the expected in-person experience advertised.
The suit is asking for a judge to have the university make students aware of the case and with-held money. Doe is also asking for relief in the form of refunds.
