Ex-Penn State students will receive small payments after judge approves $17M agreement
A federal judge gave final approval Tuesday to a record-setting agreement that will see tens of thousands of former Penn State students get a small share of $17 million.
About 72,000 students who were enrolled for in-person classes at the beginning of the spring 2020 semester when the coronavirus pandemic struck are eligible under the settlement approved by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville.
The sweeping agreement covers students who attended University Park or any commonwealth campus. Checks are to be sent by mid-April and those who receive one will have six months to cash it. Payments can also be sent by Venmo or PayPal.
Students do not have to take any action to receive a payment. A settlement website — www.PennStateTuitionRefundSettlement.com — includes additional information answers to 25 FAQs.
Not all $17 million will make its way to students. About one-third is to be paid to the attorneys who litigated the case, while another $15,000 went to three people who brought the class-action lawsuit. Taxes are also to be paid before checks are sent.
Still, attorney Gary F. Lynch wrote in a court document filed earlier this month that the settlement is an “excellent result.” It is the largest of its kind in history.
An email sent Monday to Lynch was not returned, but in September he told the Centre Daily Times the attorneys who litigated the case were “very pleased” with the agreement.
“We recognize that the Covid pandemic was beyond Penn State’s control, but our position in this case and others like it has been that the students, who are mostly very young adults, should not bear the entire financial loss associated with the pandemic,” Lynch wrote in an email. “This settlement helps the students recover some of their financial losses.”
The COVID-era lawsuit sought refunds of tuition and fees paid by students during the spring 2020 semester after the university closed its campuses and transitioned to online classes because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Attorneys alleged Penn State charged students for an in-person education and on-campus services, but failed to deliver when it closed its campuses.
Penn State did not admit any wrongdoing or liability in the agreement. The university maintains it acted properly and swiftly to protect students, faculty and staff in the face of what was a novel disease.
A Penn State spokesman also said in September that the university and its students’ interests were best served by avoiding further expense and risks associated with ongoing litigation.
“The University did its best to respond to unexpected and extraordinary emerging circumstances and denies the allegations contained in plaintiffs’ complaint and any allegations of wrongdoing,” the university said in its statement.
Penn State’s statement also touted room and board rebates, the distribution of more than $131 million in funding from the coronavirus relief bill and the establishment of an emergency fund to provide additional aid for students in need.
The university also said it invested in technology and digital resources that it said were needed to make critical online tools available.
“Faculty immediately pivoted to remote instruction and staff transitioned to offering students the full suite of resources necessary to successfully complete their academic year, including access to research materials, career services support, health services and enhanced mental health counseling, and student advisory services,” the university said.
“In addition, when needed, staff facilitated student access to social service providers. This seamless transition ensured that students could safely continue learning in the face of the COVID crisis, where in-person classes were not permitted under Pennsylvania’s stay-at-home orders and closure mandates at the time.”
Another class-action settlement in Centre County
Some Centre County residents may have also received another notice about a class-action settlement in the past month.
Centre County Judge Brian Marshall gave preliminary approval in January to a $1.8 million settlement that would see small payments go to tens of thousands of people who used Mount Nittany Health’s websites since 2007.
The agreement could receive final approval June 5.