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The University of San Diego faces a class action lawsuit from students wanting a tuition refund, alleging the school’s quality of education has been drastically lowered following its coronavirus restrictions.
Los Angeles County native Catherine Holden says she chose the University of San Diego for the “stunning, panoramic views” and the “intimate setting,” but the final semester of her senior year was spent behind screens.
She alleges the University of San Diego breaches their contract with students by charging full tuition and fees despite campus being locked down since the outbreak.
The complaint marks the ever-growing list of private and public entities facing legal action over coronavirus-related issues.
The University of San Diego, following California’s state-of-emergency orders over COVID-19, ordered remote teaching and evacuated campus in March.
These moves “drastically changed the educational opportunities available to students, severely crippling Plaintiff and Class [M]embers from receiving the education for which they paid,” the class action lawsuit said.
While the students had to make changes to adapt, the University of San Diego continued charging students the normal tuition, Holden said.
The complaint alleges the University of San Diego’s $50,450-a-year tuition includes a student center fee and certain housing fees, and should’ve been refunded, considering those services weren’t used or made available.
The lawsuit elaborates on Holden’s breach-of-contract claim. She says California law acknowledges the legal relationship between the students and the school as being a contractual one.
Holden explains the act of a student enrolling in classes at the University of San Diego constitutes an “implied-in-fact contract.”
The lawsuit asserts University of San Diego students are paying for services and facilities that aren’t being provided.
“The plethora of resources bargained and paid for by students have been denied,” Holden said, adding she believes remote learning is of “lesser value.”
Even more, the University of San Diego continues to falsely represent itself online with offers of full-campus life, Holden says in the complaint.
Beyond a breach of contract, Holden is also accusing the University of San Diego of unjust enrichment.
She claims the school is using the coronavirus campus lockdown as an “excuse” to demand full tuition.
“Defendants are thus profiting from the pandemic while further burdening students and families, many of whom have been financially and/or physically impacted by COVID-19,” she said in the complaint.
This class action lawsuit joins several others seeking tuition refunds from universities during the pandemic.
Carmen Bruckno is a student and the named plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against Tufts University. She argues the school can’t charge fees for services not offered to students and alleges claims similar to those alleged in Holden’s complaint.
In another class action lawsuit, Alexander Barry is asking that his University of Washington tuition be reimbursed, asserting a parallel argument: Why are we paying the same for less?
In a class action lawsuit against Miami University, parents got involved, despite the school offering thousands of dollars in credit. The father of one of the school’s students, Michael Weiman, says that refund wasn’t enough and the institution “wrongfully passed on COVID-19 costs to students.”
In the case against the University of San Diego, named plaintiff Holden further accuses the school of profiting because it refuses refunds even after receiving an estimated $4.4 million from the federal government in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act money.
“Defendants also continue to defy and deny requests for partial tuition or fee reimbursement, claiming that it is offering the same services for which Plaintiff and Class members bargained,” Holden’s class action lawsuit says.
In addition to the claims of breach of contract and unjust enrichment, the plaintiffs in this class action lawsuit are also accusing the University of San Diego of conversion and violating California’s unfair competition and business laws.
Do you know a student enrolled at the University of San Diego still paying tuition while the campus is closed due to the coronavirus? Let us know in the comments below.
Counsel representing the plaintiffs in this class action lawsuit are Carney R. Shegerian, Anthony Nguyen and Cheryl A. Kenner of Shegerian & Associates Inc.
The University of San Diego Class Action Lawsuit is Holden, et al. v. University Of San Diego, Case No. 3:20-cv-02169-BEN-LL, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
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