Lawsuit Against Suffolk University Seeks Tuition, Fee Refunds for COVID-19-Shortened Spring Semester

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A proposed class action against Suffolk University aims to recover tuition and fee refunds for those who one parent argues lost out on the benefits of the in-person education for which they paid as a result of the school’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the university closed its Boston campus and transitioned to online learning in March 2020, students were deprived of the educational services, facilities and opportunities for which tuition and fees were already paid, according to the lawsuit out of Massachusetts.

What students received instead was an online education that was “subpar in practically every aspect,” the lawsuit claims, arguing Suffolk’s remote learning options “are in no way the equivalent of the in-person education that Plaintiff and the putative class members contracted and paid for.”

Despite failing to provide services for which tuition and fees have been paid, Suffolk has refused to offer any refunds for the Spring 2020 semester, the suit says.

The plaintiff, the mother of an undergraduate sociology major, relays that Suffolk, the eighth largest school in the Boston metro area, announced on March 11 that classes would be transitioned to remote instruction beginning March 18, while students were asked to leave residence halls the day prior. For the rest of the spring semester, which ended on April 27, classes were held in an online format only, the suit says.

As the lawsuit tells it, the closure of Suffolk’s campus and facilities harmed those who specifically chose to attend the school on an in-person basis, in particular after seeing the university’s marketing representations touting in-person attendance.

“Plaintiff and members of the Class did not choose to attend (or have their sons and daughters attend) an online institution of higher learning, but instead chose to attend (or have their sons and daughters attend) Defendant’s institution and enroll on an in-person basis,” the complaint argues, adding that Suffolk’s website markets the school’s on-campus experience as a benefit of enrollment.

According to the case, the remote education offered to students for the second portion of the Spring 2020 semester was “not even remotely worth” the amount paid in tuition and fees. Stressing that tuition and fees for Suffolk’s in-person education are higher than those charged for its online programs, the lawsuit says the amounts paid by students are meant to cover “an entirely different experience,” including face-to-face interaction with peers and faculty, access to campus facilities, student governance and unions, extra-curricular activities and clubs, social development and independence, hands-on learning, and networking and mentorship opportunities.

The 15-page case, echoing a slew of similar litigation filed against colleges and universities amid the COVID-19 crisis, seeks pro-rated refunds of Spring 2020 tuition and fees on behalf of those who paid such for in-person educational services that Suffolk failed to provide and have not received a refund.

Though Suffolk has announced classes for the Fall 2020 semester will continue on an all-remote basis, the university has not chosen to reduce or discount tuition, according to the lawsuit.

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

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