Update On Student Tuition Refund Lawsuits Following Colleges' Shift To Online Classes During COVID-19

Mass Live, Northeastern University Doesn’t Owe Students Tuition Refunds After College Switched to Remote Learning Amid COVID Pandemic, Federal Judge Rules:

A federal judge on Thursday ruled that Northeastern University didn’t promise students in-person learning after the coronavirus pandemic forced the college to switch to remote instruction, denying several students refunds on their tuition.

U.S District Court Judge Richard Stearns largely dismissed the class action lawsuit brought by two first-year students after the university moved from on-campus to remote instruction on March 12, noting that the complaint “does not plausibly establish that the parties' contract included any right to in-person instruction."

Law.com, Trend Shows Judges Refusing to Dismiss Cases Against Universities Demanding COVID-19 Refunds:

Most students suing for refunds for tuition and fees paid after the abrupt closure of their colleges and universities during the first COVID-19 lockdowns have cleared their first hurdles, with judges in more than a half-dozen cases allowing claims to go forward.

About 200 class actions hit the courts soon after campuses closed this spring, most asserting breach of contract and unjust enrichment on behalf of various classes of students seeking refunds for tuition, fees, and housing and meal costs. Judges in Michigan, Ohio and Florida have allowed some of those claims to survive, despite assertions from the schools that students have not identified a contract or proven that, once in a virtual setting, they had breached it.