A federal lawsuit contends Oglethorpe University owes students a prorated refund of tuition and fees after the private Brookhaven school transitioned to online learning in the middle of the spring 2020 semester.
The suit was filed March 14 in U.S. District Court in Atlanta on behalf of Brandi Kochan of Norcross. She attended Oglethorpe when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted and closed campuses around the country.
Kochan’s represented by attorneys who have filed similar lawsuits against several other universities, including some who have agreed to pay settlements. The legal team wants to bring the case as a class-action lawsuit, saying in court filings that roughly 1,500 students attended Oglethorpe when classes moved online. The suit says that online classes lacked “classroom interaction” and students lost the chance to learn collaboratively or benefit from in-person dialogue and feedback.
“Rather than offer partial refunds, credits, or discounts to students like (the) plaintiff and balance the financial difficulties associated with COVID-19, the university has instead elected to place the financial burden entirely upon its students by charging and retaining the full tuition and full fees when the services the university provided were not the full educational opportunities, experiences, and services that plaintiff and the class agreed to or paid for,” the suit states.
Oglethorpe spokesman Lance Wallace declined to comment, saying the school has “not been officially noticed on this lawsuit and are not in a position to discuss the matter further at this point.”
The lawsuit does not explain why it was filed now.
More than 300 class-action lawsuits seeking tuition refunds were filed in the 20 months after the pandemic forced colleges to move classes online, according to the American Council on Education. The association, whose members include colleges and universities, has argued schools should be celebrated not penalized for their responses to the pandemic.
In a court filing in a case involving American University, the council said that switching to online learning was a costly endeavor for schools; they faced unexpected expenses such as purchasing software licenses and technology upgrades, training faculty and making resources available virtually.
In 2021, Inside Higher Ed reported that judges dismissed many of the lawsuits but others have proceeded.
Among the ongoing cases is a federal lawsuit filed against Emory University in the early days of the pandemic. The initial suit, brought on behalf of an Emory student from Massachusetts, contended that the university had charged students for tuition, fees and room and board “as if nothing has changed” even though students were sent home.
The initial complaint, which has since been consolidated with another similar case, pegged the refunds owed to students at more than $5 million. The lawsuit is ongoing, an Emory spokeswoman said.
In the Oglethorpe case, the plaintiff doesn’t challenge the school’s compliance with COVID-19 orders but instead takes issue with the school’s refusal to offer any refunds. Kochan was charged nearly $20,000 for tuition and fees for the spring 2020 semester, according to the suit. It states that students could not access the school’s fitness facilities, computer labs and libraries, plus student events and activities halted.
A Pittsburgh law firm that’s part of the case against Oglethorpe also was involved in a suit against Gannon University, a small, private school in Pennsylvania. That case, filed in federal court seven months ago, is not finalized, but Gannon recently agreed to a preliminary $1.1 million settlement.
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