Families Seek Refund For Services Colleges Didn’t Deliver

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  • Families Seek Refund For Services Colleges Didn’t Deliver
    Families Seek Refund For Services Colleges Didn’t Deliver
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Natalie Marshall says the University of Central Oklahoma owes her a refund for services not provided last semester after the campus closed in the wake of COVID-19.

Marshall, a senior majoring in forensic science and criminal justice, started an online petition following the shutdown urging the administration to give students a partial refund of fees they paid for things like health clinic and counseling services, library and lab use, and face-to-face tutoring.

“It’s not fair we paid $500 for a university fee when beginning in March we couldn’t go to the fitness center,” she said.

To make matters worse, many students lost jobs and internships because of the pandemic. “Students are feeling very stressed about paying the remainder of their tuition and fees because many of the students are now unemployed,” Marshall said.

Calls for a partial refund of spring semester payments are echoing across America.

Expert Institute recently reported that more than 4,000 universities and colleges in the United States closed their campuses and switched to online learning formats in response to the coronavirus, affecting at least 25 million students.

More than 100 class-action lawsuits have been filed against universities and colleges for the repayment of fees. Many also seek tuition reimbursement, claiming online classes don’t have equal value to in-person classes. While many have offered refunds for services like room and board that were disrupted, institutions across the country have drawn the line at reimbursing tuition payments.

UCO offered students prorated refunds of fees paid for housing, meal plans and parking permits.

A class action lawsuit filed against the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education requests a partial refund of fees paid by students at all 25 public colleges and universities during the spring semester. The petition filed in May in Oklahoma County does not seek a tuition refund.

“The tuition goes toward the education and these students got the education. The schools did a good job,” said Grant Thetford, an attorney with the Tulsa law firm representing the plaintiff. “Fees go to very specific things.”

Plaintiff Christopher Knox, whose son is a University of Oklahoma student, paid $4,296 for mandatory and course-related fees and $2,885 for room and board for the spring semester, according to the petition.

While limited credits for room and board have been offered to some students at some institutions, refunds for other fees have been refused, the petition states.

“These students need this money back. They have had summer internships and jobs cancelled. They are feeling hardship from every single side,” Thetford said.

More than 50 students from OU, Oklahoma State University, Cameron University and Oklahoma City Community College are among those who have contacted the law firm about the lawsuit, he said.

In an answer to the class action petition filed July 1, the State Regents maintain they are the wrong party to be sued because there is no contract between them and students or their families and they never received any fees from the students or families.

Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.