Cornell University has agreed to pay $3 million to students who were denied in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a notice on the school’s website.
The university said that students who were enrolled in classes during the Spring 2020 semester may be eligible for payment as part of a settlement in the class action lawsuit. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the school breached its contract when it took classes online and asked for students to receive a refund for part of their tuition costs during that time. (RELATED: Cornell University Shuts Down Campus Over COVID-19 Concerns Despite Vaccine Mandate)
“The University denies any breach of contract and denies all other allegations of wrongdoing, and there has been no finding of liability in any court,” the notice reads. “However, considering the interests of both the University and its students in prompt resolution of the matter, the University and Plaintiffs have agreed that the University will pay $3,000,000 into a Settlement Fund to resolve the Action.”
Cornell to pay $3M to settle students’ class-action suit over 2020 COVID restrictions https://t.co/L9aJoGzwp7 pic.twitter.com/0dvQ4jlQtl
— New York Post (@nypost) September 28, 2023
The students allege that while they agreed that closing the campus down in the spring semester of 2020 was the “right thing to do,” they were deprived of benefits such as on-campus meals, in-person instruction, and other student activities. Fees paid by students to access in-person facilities such as the campus gym, or participate in in-person student activities should be refunded, the students claimed in their complaint.
“We paid dining, tuition, and housing with the expectation that we would use these facilities for the FULL semester. Since this is no longer the case, partial refunding is not a ludicrous proposition,” one student wrote in an email to administration after classes went online.
The students also alleged that the online learning did not possess the same rigor as the in-person learning they signed up for, and that, “the value of any degree issued on the basis of online or pass/fail classes will be diminished for the rest of their lives.”