Class action: CU student sues for tuition reimbursement after COVID-19 closure
BOULDER — A lawsuit filed this week by a University of Colorado student and her father alleges that the university and the CU Board of Regents have breached their contracts with the student body by shutting down the Boulder campus amid the COVID-19 outbreak and refusing to refund tuition and fees.
Attorneys representing Emily Carpey, a CU student from Pennsylvania, and her father, Stuart Carpey, filed a class-action petition with U.S. District Court in Denver for reimbursements on behalf of all eligible CU students. The suit claims that CU has failed to live up to its end of the bargain with students who paid to attend classes and participate in collegiate life on campus.
“There are hundreds, if not thousands, of institutions of higher learning in this country. Many institutions of higher learning provide curriculum and instruction that is offered on a remote basis through online learning, which do not provide for physical attendance by the students,” according to the complaint. “Defendant’s institution offers in-person, hands-on curriculum. Plaintiffs and members of the proposed class did not choose to attend another institution of higher learning, but instead chose to attend defendant’s institution and enroll on an in-person basis. Defendant markets the on-campus experience as a benefit of enrollment.”
Annual tuition at CU is about $12,500 for Colorado residents and more than $38,000 for out-of-state students. In addition, students must pay a variety of fees for activities such as athletics and access to the wellness center.
“Each of these additional fees was a required charge to cover the costs of opportunities and services that can only be made available to students while the students are physically present on campus,” according to the suit.
Carpey’s complaint also takes aim at online pass/fail classes offered as an alternative to traditional in-person instruction.
“[T]he value of any degree issued on the basis of online or pass/fail classes will be diminished for the rest of plaintiff’s life,” the suit said.
In response to the lawsuit, CU system spokesman Ken McConnellogue told BizWest in an email: “The Board of Regents has been notified about the suit. When COVID-19 hit, CU’s priorities were the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff, as well as continuing to deliver on our academic mission. To accomplish both, we quickly moved to remote teaching and learning. We also worked with state and local government to implement health and safety recommendations. Our faculty continue to deliver coursework, and they are working diligently to ensure it has the same academic rigor and high quality as before the pandemic struck.”
Carpey’s suit seeks damages including the dollar amount “difference between the value of one half semester of online learning versus the value of one half semester of live in-person instruction in a physical classroom” and the “pro-rated, unused amounts of the fees already charged and collected.”
