Name: Middlebury College Faces Class-Action Suit Over Tuition Refunds | Off Message
Brand: sevendaysvt.com
SKU: sevendaysvt-com-16
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Middlebury College Faces Class-Action Suit Over Tuition Refunds | Off Message

preview

! -- fonts --&gt;Seven Days needs your financial support!Switch to the of this page.| | | |Vermont's Independent Voice|Updated at 7:30 p.m.A class-action lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court accuses Middlebury College of failing to adequately reimburse students sent home in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.The complaint says the college violated its contract with plaintiff Henry Mooers, of Norwell, Mass., and other students who paid for a semester's worth of in-person learning and other services that they did not receive.Students who paid tuition expecting a "first-rate education and an on-campus, in person educational" experience were instead&nbsp;"provided a materially deficient and insufficient alternative," the suit says.If a federal judge certifies the suit's class-action status, it would cover all Middlebury students who were sent home in the spring, as well as those affected during "any other semester" in which COVID-19 forces classes online.That would be a broader class than that being sought filed in April against the University of Vermont. The suit could also have wide-ranging financial impacts if a spike in COVID cases forced Middlebury to again shutter its campus.In a statement to Seven Days, Middlebury spokesperson Sarah Ray did not address the lawsuit’s charges directly. But she said that while the college has “worked hard” to reduce and limit new spending, the costs of the “high-quality educational experience” expected at Middlebury have only increased in light of the pandemic.“Last spring, faculty worked creatively and quickly to ensure the continuity of education for our students,” Ray wrote. “Our ability to provide this continuity is dependent on our existing revenue sources, which include both tuition and a larger-than-usual draw on our endowment to help offset these new costs.”Tristan Christopher Larson, a Rutland attorney representing the plaintiff, declined to comment.Not long , Middlebury announced that it would refund room and board fees on a prorated basis at a total cost of $7.9 million, according to the But it did not extend any similar offer for&nbsp;roughly $220 per semester "student activity fees" that the lawsuit claims are mainly used for services that were canceled due to the pandemic. Nor did it reimburse its 2,500 undergraduate students for the roughly $29,000 per semester tuition, even though the online learning options offered to students in the final two months were "sub-par&nbsp;in practically every aspect" compared to the college's traditional in-person learning, the lawsuit says.Students "have been deprived of the opportunity for collaborative learning and in-person dialogue, feedback, and critique," the suit says, adding that most students were also not able to access&nbsp;libraries, laboratories, computer labs, and study rooms, which are "integral to a college education."The suit points to a signed by about 130 people as proof that students feel cheated. The petition, which calls on the college to issue partial tuition refunds, was created by an undergraduate student who wrote that, "while the university is not to blame for the coronavirus, it is undeniable that the product students are receiving is vastly different from one they were sold and paid for up-front in good faith."Instead of tuition refunds, the college's board of trustees recently announced that it would move forward with a 3 percent tuition increase for this school year. , before the pandemic hit.Addressing questions about why the college cannot tap into its $1.15 billion endowment to cover the refunds and stave off the tuition increase, college treasurer David Provost told the campus newspaper that&nbsp;the vast majority of the endowment is restricted for donor-specified purposes.“We could go back and ask donors — if they’re still alive — if we can change it, and we still may have to do that if things get much worse," he told the paper.Read the lawsuit below:Tags: , , , , ,Send aand we'll publish your feedback in print!&nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;Comments are closed.Since 2014, Seven Days has allowed readers to comment on all stories posted on our website. While we’ve appreciated the suggestions and insights, the time has come to shut them down — at least temporarily.While we champion free speech, facts are a matter of life and death during the coronavirus pandemic, and right now Seven Days is prioritizing the production of responsible journalism over moderating online debates between readers.To criticize, correct or praise our reporting, please Or . We’ll check it out and report the results.Online comments may return when we have better tech tools for managing them. Thanks for reading.All content© 2022Da Capo Publishing, Inc.255 So. Champlain St. Ste. 5,Burlington, VT 05401&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;Website powered by

! -- fonts --&gt;Seven Days needs your financial support!Switch to the of this page.| | | |Vermont's Independent Voice|Updated at 7:30 p.m.A class-action lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court accuses Middlebury College of failing to adequately reimburse students sent home in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.The complaint says the college violated its contract with plaintiff Henry Mooers, of Norwell, Mass., and other students who paid for a semester's worth of in-person learning and other services that they did not receive.Students who paid tuition expecting a "first-rate...

Middlebury College Faces Class-Action Suit Over Tuition Refunds | Off Message

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS