Kansas students sue for tuition refunds: They paid to be on campus, not online
Two Kansas State University graduates have filed a class action lawsuit against the school, claiming they did not get the education they paid for when the campus shut down and classes went online because of COVID-19.
The lawsuit says the students, Noah Plank and John Garfolo, entered into a contract with K-State where they would pay for tuition and fees and the university would provide “in-person educational services, experiences, opportunities, and other related services.” But on March 16, K-State canceled all in-person classes and closed the campus for the rest of the spring semester.
As a result, K-State and the Kansas Board of Regents “failed to uphold their end of the contract,” the suit says. And, it says, the university has “not offered any refund of the tuition and fees,” even though 58% of the semester was not in-person.
“COVID-19 does not excuse” the university from meeting the obligations of the contract, the suit said.
Asked about the suit, K-State officials said, “The university has no further comment regarding on-going litigation.”
Plank and Garfolo, both of Salina, are the only students named in the lawsuit, filed July 7 in U.S. District Court of Kansas. But they filed it on behalf of themselves and “other individuals similarly situated,” making it a class action that would include students who paid tuition and fees for K-State’s spring semester, Jan. 21 through May 15, the suit says.
Plank studied aeronautical science full time and paid approximately $5,408 for the semester. As a full-time undergraduate, Garfolo paid the university more than $6,000 in tuition and fees through a student loan, according to the lawsuit.
K-State’s average tuition for in-state residents costs $4,688. For out-of-state residents it’s $12,440. Costs can vary depending on a student’s course of study. The suit claims the class action covers thousands of students who are owed more than $5 million.
Jeffrey Brown, of the New York law firm Leeds, Brown, represents Plank and Garfolo and is also the attorney for more than a dozen other students suing other colleges for breach of contract during the pandemic.
“My feeling is that colleges do not get to keep students’ money if they are not providing services,” Brown said. Given how expensive a college education is and the great debt students often face to pay for their education, Brown said, “students should not be left holding the bag.”
“It really boggles my mind that these universities, some of them have billions in endowments, have not stepped up. It is not just about in-person versus online course work.” Brown said students are missing out on a full range of interactions, including relationships with other students, sports and their growth from living away from home on a college campus, things universities advertise to attract students in the first place.
In June, two unnamed Johnson County women filed a lawsuit against the University of Kansas seeking refunds for fees and campus dining packages they had paid for. KU had offered students credits for dining and other expenses, such as parking. The lawsuit is still pending.
Since March, about 100 colleges and universities have been sued by students and parents seeking refunds for tuition, fees and other charges after classes went online, according to a May report by MarketWatch .
They include elite schools such as Harvard, Emory, Duke, Columbia and Georgetown universities as well as some large schools, such as the University of California system, Michigan State and Penn State.
In North Carolina last month, the state legislature passed a bill giving colleges immunity from legal claims related to COVID-19 closures. That legislation protects the schools as long as campuses were closed for the sake of public health and they offered online courses as an alternative.
Colleges, many of them already feeling a financial pinch because of enrollment drops and reductions in state funding, have complained over the last four months of further revenue woes brought on by COVID-19 and the loss of revenue generators such as events and research grants.
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Kansas students sue for tuition refunds: They paid to be on campus, not online."
