Lawsuits: Universities, colleges ‘profiting from pandemic.’

Filings claim that state university systems are hurting students while profiting from closures

A pair of lawsuits accuses the University of California and California State University systems of “profiting from this pandemic” by evicting students but keeping campus-based student fees. The nearly identical suits are seeking class action status.

“University of California’s decision to transition to online classes and to instruct students to leave campus were responsible decisions to make, but it is unfair and unlawful for University of California to retain fees and costs and to pass the losses on to the students and/ or their families,” alleged UC Davis student Claire Brandmeyer in a suit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Oakland. “Other higher education institutions across the United States that also have switched to e-learning and have requested that students leave campus have recognized the upheaval and financial harm to students and/or their families from these decisions and have provided appropriate refunds.”

The University of California declined to comment on the suit against it. The California State University system said the suit filed against it misstated facts, as schools have continued to fulfill their mission of “providing instruction and services” to students.

“Campuses continue to operate, and many personal services are now provided remotely, such as counseling, advising, faculty office hours, disability student services, and even telehealth medical care,” said CSU spokesman Michael Uhlenkamp. The suit also “misstates CSU’s position on refunds for certain campus-based fees,” Uhlenkamp said, referring to an advisory from the system saying students can apply for refunds of room and board fees, and parking fees.

Across California, students are seeking to recoup money paid for a higher education that has been dramatically transformed by the coronavirus pandemic. Campuses have been mostly shut down, and courses moved online, leading college students to claim they’re not getting what they paid for. As of Tuesday, a petition to the U.S. Department of Education started by a UC Irvine student seeking “fair refunds” for college and university students affected by the coronavirus outbreak had gathered nearly 8,000 signatures.

Brandmeyer alleges in her suit, filed Monday, that fees paid at UC Davis for the academic year amounted to about $3,000, including a general campus-based fee and other levies for campus expansion and enhancements, as well as for student health services. At issue is the portion of fees paid

for the educational periods affected by closures at all 10 UC schools, the suit said.

The number of affected UC students is at least 280,000, the suit claimed. In the greater Bay Area, there are UC campuses in Berkeley, San Francisco and Santa Cruz.

The suit against the state college system, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by Sonoma State University student Akayla

Miller, claims campus-based fees across the CSU system amount to $847 to $4,201 for the academic year. The number of affected CSU students is at least 480,000, the suit claimed. In the greater Bay Area, there are CSU schools in San Jose, Hayward, Vallejo and San Francisco.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs said the fees for services that have been mostly suspended amounted to “many millions of dollars” across the two state higher-education systems. Another lawyer from the three firms representing Brandmeyer and Miller said the pandemic situation

“is not easy for anyone” but that doesn’t make it right to pass “losses” onto students. “Many of these universities have multi-million- or billion-dollar endowments to sustain them,” lawyer Matthew Miller said. “Students and their families do not have the same resources.”

The suits are seeking court orders returning “wrongfully retained” fees to students, and prohibiting UC and CSU schools from holding onto “unused” fees.

CSU spokesman Uhlenkamp said the system would “vigorously defend against this suit.”