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More College Students Turning to Courts to Obtain Refunds

More College Students Turning to Courts to Obtain Refunds

“Are you a college student who was forced to leave campus? You may be entitled to compensation”

Schools are already panicking over finances, but you can’t blame the students for doing this.

Inside Higher Ed reports:

Students Turn to Courts for Refunds

“Are you a college student who was forced to leave campus? You may be entitled to compensation,” a notice on collegerefund2020.com announces.

The website was created by a law firm currently capitalizing on the growing anger and activism by students — and indignant parents, too — who believe they’re owed partial tuition and fee refunds for semesters cut short, courses moved online and off-campus, and unused housing and meal plans, among other disruptions that occurred at colleges and universities across the country in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The advertisement by the Anastopoulo Law Firm, which has offices throughout South Carolina, appears to have struck a chord. It is currently representing students in three class action lawsuits filed in the last two weeks against Drexel University, University of Miami and the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado, as calls from students for tuition and fee refunds grow stronger.

The lawsuits claim that online classes don’t have equal value to in-person classes and are not worth the tuition that students paid for on-campus classes. The lawsuits also contend that the decision by these institutions to use pass/fail grading systems this semester have diminished the value of the degrees they offer. The lawsuits claim they represent thousands of students enrolled at the universities.

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Comments

healthguyfsu | April 21, 2020 at 7:54 pm

“The lawsuits also contend that the decision by these institutions to use pass/fail grading systems this semester have diminished the value of the degrees they offer.”

I don’t think this can sell, but I guess it depends on the school. My local university is offering students the option to elect to pass/fail two courses this semester and waive grade minimum requirements to move to the next course in sequence. This is an elective choice by the student, so the P/F designation was not forced on them. I imagine many other places are the same.

If I was hiring an engineer who graduates this June, I would be quite concerned about the missed classes, and especially the labs that can’t really be done remotely. (I have seen engineers who are strong on theory but can’t handle a wrench, and they’re not good for much but sales.) But if I hire an engineer from the class of 2021 next year, I’ll think that good senior-year grades mean he filled in the gaps well enough. And for any engineer with a year or more work experience, work performance weighs much heavier than college grades.

T