Some big universities in Michigan are facing law suits because, according to the suit, "The University's decision to transition to online classes and to request or encourage students to leave campus were responsible decisions to make, but it is unfair and unlawful for the University to retain full tuition and fees and a disproportionate share of prepaid amounts for room and board costs and fees and to refuse to reduce any outstanding charges, effectively passing the losses on to the students and their families". All 3 of the law suits on these major schools are currently in the Michigan Court of Claims and are classified as class action (meaning they are suing the whole university and not specific people). This comes after all 3 schools provided refunds to their students after the semester was taken online.
Both U of M and MSU refunded students back $1200, Western Michigan refunded students $1000, while Wayne State only refunded students $850 (note, these were for students who were living on campus, not everyone). It is important to keep in mind that Wayne State also costs less yearly as the average student (who is a resident) at U of M pays around $28k with housing and tuition; the average for a student at MSU pays around $25k, while the average student (who is a resident) at WSU pays around $22k. This brings U of M's refund to around 4.3%, MSU's to 4.8%, and Wayne State's refund to around 3.9% for its total tuition. However, it is worth mentioning that these schools have many people from out of state and internationally whose tuitions can go as high as $50k+. This would mean that they are only getting a refund of 2.4%. Quarantine started around 6 weeks ago which basically means we spent half the semester at home so they did not use housing for half the semester. So would it not be fair if half the housing costs were refunded?
Furthermore, many students are disgruntled at the fact that all of their classes are online. The law suits talk about this by claiming that students pay for high class education from professors in a face-to-face manner. It goes on to say that students are not getting this same high standard of education that they originally paid for so ALL students should get some sort of refund.
However, you also have to remember the economic impact that coronavirus has had on schools. U of M announced that it has a budget downfall of $1 billion and MSU announced that it will not be raising tuitions for next year. All 3 of these schools have been hit hard in terms of their budgets and will have to resort to pay cuts for executives and layoffs. One might ask where these budget downfalls are coming from. MSU and U of M lost a lot of revenue in sporting events (as the college basketball season was cut short), pre-planned summer programs, and class demand. If the budget goes into a further deficit, how many people would lose their jobs? Will the university be able to provide the same level of excellence? These are all things that one must consider.
There are 2 clear sides to this story. Do students deserve to get more of their tuition back while schools are already struggling with budget downfalls? What would you do if you were in the position of the schools and not the student? How could you better handle this?
コメント