Class Action Seeks Refunds from Long Island University for Spring 2020 Tuition, Fees

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Long Island University faces a proposed class action over its apparent refusal to issue tuition and fee refunds for the Spring 2020 semester after transitioning to online learning in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Filed by a full-time student, the 33-page lawsuit alleges LIU owes refunds given it failed to provide the services for which proposed class members contracted and paid, including an on-campus educational experience complete with in-person instruction, access to campus facilities, student activities, and other benefits and services promised by the Brooklyn school.

Despite the curtailed semester, Long Island University has either refused to provide reimbursement for Spring 2020 tuition and fees or has provided inadequate and arbitrary reimbursement, according to the complaint.

The plaintiff relays he “specifically chose” to enroll in the defendant’s on-campus program, noting the university, in its marketing, “recognized and admitted the inherent difference” between its in-person and online products throughout its website and other publications.

According to the suit, Long Island University promised to provide through its on-campus program benefits and services “above and beyond” mere academic instruction, including face-to-face interaction with peers and faculty; access to computer labs, libraries, study rooms, labs and other facilities; student governance, unions, activities and clubs; exposure to diverse communities; social development and independence; hands-on learning and experimentation; and networking and mentorship opportunities.

The plaintiff argues that he and other students were deprived of the promised benefits after the school transitioned to online instruction midway through the spring semester. 

“When this happened, Plaintiff was forced from campus and deprived of the benefit of the bargain for which he had paid, and in exchange for which Defendant had accepted, tuition as set forth more fully above,” the complaint reads, adding that students paid “a myriad of other program or course specific fees” without receiving the benefit of such.

The lawsuit claims students were deprived of an in-person education for approximately 55 percent of the Spring semester based on the school’s transition to online classes and eviction of students from its Brooklyn campus on March 12, 2020.

Though Long Island University has agreed to issue credit for room and board fees, no such refunds have been offered for tuition and other mandatory fees, the case alleges, stating the school has been allocated through the CARES Act more than $7 million in federal funds that must be used to provide emergency financial aid grants to students affected by the disruption of campus operations due to COVID-19.

Colleges and universities across the U.S. face a slew of proposed class action litigation seeking refunds for Spring 2020 tuition and fees after students were forced to transition to online learning in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

ClassAction.org’s coverage of COVID-19 litigation can be found here and over on our Newswire.

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