NJ College Settles $5M Tuition Reimbursement Lawsuit During COVID Shutdown

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Rutgers University agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by a parent against the school, who argued that their daughter did not receive the college education they paid for when the campus went all virtual in spring of 2020.

On Friday, Rutgers agreed to pay a $5 million settlement on behalf of everyone who paid Rutgers Spring 2020 semester fees. New Jersey Superior Court Judge Alberto Rivas approved the settlement last week: It means all 64,500 Rutgers undergrads who paid spring 2020 tuition will get about a $63 refund, NJ Spotlight reported.

Although the refund is very small, Rutgers appears to be the first college in America that closed because of coronavirus and is now giving refunds acknowledging the differences in in-class and online learning.

Neither Rutgers nor the law firm that filed the suit, Seattle-based Hagens Berman, responded to Patch with a comment on the settlement, or the size of the $63 payout to students.

But Hagens Berman confirmed the case settlement on its website.

Patch reported on the lawsuit when it was first filed, in May of 2020: An anonymous parent of a Rutgers student sued, arguing they should be repaid tuition and other costs after Rutgers decided to close campus.

What the parent sought was not a refund for the meal plan and housing; Rutgers had already pro-rated those on-campus fees when they closed.

The parent said they deserved a tuition refund, arguing that — because their daughter's classes were virtual instead of in-person — that the young woman received a radically different learning experience than what they paid for.

"While plaintiff's daughter could have obtained her degree online, their daughter specifically selected an in-person, in-class experience," argues the lawsuit, which you can read here.

The parents who filed the suit were identified as Kari Rocchio and Sana Mahmood in the settlement agreement, which is also publicly available here.

Hagens Berman filed similar tuition-reimbursement lawsuits against Boston University, Brown, Duke, Emory, George Washington University, USC, Vanderbilt and Washington University in St. Louis for going all virtual.

"What Rutgers is offering is not what students or parents paid for," said Steve Berman, the lead lawyer on the case. "So while students enrolled and paid (Rutgers) for a comprehensive academic experience, (Rutgers) instead offered something far less: A limited online experience presented by Google or Zoom, void of face-to-face faculty and peer interaction, separated from program resources, and barred from facilities vital to study. Plaintiff did not bargain for such an experience."

For example, Rutgers charges $550 per credit hour for a fully online bachelor’s degree program, but charges $942 per credit hour for a regular degree obtained in person, the lawsuit points out.

A student filed a similar lawsuit against Kean University, saying online classes were not what she paid for. The fate of that lawsuit is unknown.

Rutgers received an estimated $54.16 million from the federal government in the CARES Act.

Initial Patch report: Parent Sues Rutgers, Demanding Tuition Refund Due To Coronavirus (May 2020)

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