Penn State student sues university over decision to close campus amid COVID-19 pandemic
A Penn State student filed a federal class-action lawsuit Thursday against the university’s board of trustees that challenged several of the university’s decisions aimed at mitigating the spread of the coronavirus.
Tyler Thomson conceded in the 20-page lawsuit that the university’s decision to close its campuses and transition to online classes was “the right thing ... to do,” but argued it deprived students of services that were already paid for.
“Common sense would dictate that the level and quality of instruction an educator can provide through an online format is lower than the level and quality of instruction that can be provided in person,” attorney Stuart Carpey wrote. “Moreover, the true college experience encompasses more than just the credit hours and degrees.”
The university’s spring semester began Jan. 13 and commencement was scheduled to conclude May 10 — a span of 118 days.
Penn State, which declined through a spokesperson to comment, closed its campuses and transitioned to online classes March 16, meaning about 47% of the semester was conducted away from Happy Valley.
The university has “refused” to offer any prorated discount or refund for spring tuition and has arbitrarily handed out some of the about $27.5 million it received to provide emergency financial aid grants to students, Carpey wrote.
Thomson’s lawsuit also questioned a perceived inequality between on-campus and online instruction, including differences in tuition costs.
Some professors are uploading prerecorded lectures that do not allow for student interaction, while others are uploading assignments with no video instruction.
And while Penn State markets its online degrees as being equivalent to those earned in-person, Carpey wrote differences in tuition mean Penn State “acknowledged the value of an online education being worth between 44% and 80% less than the same degree earned on a physical campus.”
The university also announced in April that it planned to offer a discount to students who opt to take summer session classes.
“The only difference between (Penn State’s) decision to discount online classes for the summer and not discount online classes for the spring is that (Penn State) has already collected tuition for the spring semester and the spring semester students have no recourse,” Carpey wrote. “(Penn State) has not yet collected tuition for the summer term and ... knows many students will not agree to pay full price.”
The four-count lawsuit requested a trial and is seeking a return of money “wrongfully obtained” through tuition and fees, Carpey wrote.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 12:54 PM.