The College Fix

Students sued, alleging the university shouldn’t have charged full tuition and fees during remote learning

Students who sued the University of Washington for canceled classes and tuition payments during the COVID-19 pandemic reached a $4 million settlement with the public institution this week.

In a decision preliminarily approved by a King County judge, the university agreed to pay $4 million to end the case while not admitting to any wrongdoing, the Seattle Times reports.

“Given the potential ongoing costs of litigating this case through trial, we believe it was the financially responsible decision to agree to this settlement,” university spokesperson Victor Balta told the newspaper.

A doctoral student, Alexander Barry, filed the lawsuit in 2020, arguing the university should not have charged full tuition and fees when it went to remote learning, according to The Daily, the university student newspaper.

“Despite sending students home, transitioning to online instruction, and closing its campuses, the University of Washington continued to charge for tuition, and/or fees as if nothing changed, continuing to reap the financial benefit of millions of dollars from students,” the lawsuit states.

Barry also alleged he and other students were deprived of “face-to-face faculty and peer interaction” as well as university events and activities.

The Daily reports more:

After UW made the decision to transition to online learning in March 2020, the university also determined that tuition and additional fees would remain the same as in-person instruction. Many students made the argument that they were unfairly charged since their tuition included in-person learning and access to campus facilities.

Shortly after transitioning to remote learning, students created a petition to reduce tuition costs for the spring 2020 quarter, which eventually gained over 15,000 signatures.

According to a March 11 email to The Daily from university spokesperson Victor Balta, “The UW provided excellent education to its students throughout the period of remote instruction,” countering some of the complaints made in the lawsuit. Balta also noted that the pandemic increased financial costs on the university as opposed to reducing them.

“Despite those unexpected costs, the UW ensured students were able to continue earning credits toward their degrees without interruption and in the safest environment possible,” Balta said in an email. “Given the potential ongoing costs of litigating this case through trial, we believe it was the financially responsible decision to agree to this settlement.”

Students at other universities have reached similar settlements in disputes over the COVID-19 shutdowns and tuition payments.

In 2024, students agreed to a $5 million settlement with the University of Chicago in a dispute over tuition costs during COVID-19 shutdowns, The College Fix reported at the time.

Cornell University also agreed to pay $3 million in 2023 to settle a similar lawsuit alleging the Ivy League school failed to adequately reimburse students when it changed to online classes during the pandemic, The Fix reported.

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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: The University of Washington’s campus sign. University of Washington

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