Over 200,000 college students in Michigan could have part of their tuition refunded following several lawsuits brought by students after they were forced to attend school online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, the Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments from students who attended Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University and Lake Superior State University who claim that they should receive a refund for payments they made for living expenses and other aspects of their tuition after attending school virtually, instead of in-person, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Fink Bressack law firm in Michigan, which is representing the students from the universities, said in a press release that Central Michigan University "has unfairly refused to issue satisfactory refunds for housing, meals, tuition and other fees which students prepaid for services the University is not currently providing."
According to the Fink Bressack law firm, lawyer David Fink is also representing students who have filed similar lawsuits against the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University and Western Michigan University. Fink told Newsweek that he expects a decision by the Michigan Supreme Court to impact the other universities who are facing lawsuits from students.
The Detroit News reported that Fink said during recent Michigan Supreme Court arguments that a decision in these cases could impact around 220,000 college students.
"The goal of our lawsuits is to be sure that students in Michigan are treated fairly. These students paid for the Cadillac educations but they received the equivalent of a beat-up used Chevy," Fink told Newsweek. "They paid for in-person education in a college campus environment and they got emergency remote teaching, sitting at home in front of their computers."
The lawsuits come amid ongoing discussions around student debt forgiveness after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against President Joe Biden's debt forgiveness plan. Following the ruling, college students across the nation have continued to call on Biden and Congress to take further action to cancel student loan debt while payments recently resumed after a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"WMU students were at the approximate midway point of their Spring 2020 semester when the school cancelled in-person classes on March 11. Tuition for the semester started at approximately $6,047 for in-state residents and just under $7,559 for out-of-state residents," the Fink Bressack law firm said in a press release. "The University's failure to issue tuition refunds is inconsistent with the significant cost differences between online instruction and teaching provided in an in-person setting. More importantly, the University's decision does not factor in the significant decreases in value between in-person and online classes."
Newsweek reached out to contacts at Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University and Lake Superior State University, as well as Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne University via email for comment.