Four state universities do not owe students refunds for tuition, room and board and other costs after cancelling in-person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s under decisions released Thursday by the Michigan Court of Appeals.
The issues in these cases date back to 2020 and the peak of the pandemic. Michigan State University, Wayne State University, Western Michigan University, and Ferris State University closed their campuses to in-person learning and activities and moved classes online. In some cases, students were allowed to remain in dormitories while taking classes remotely.
The families in these cases claim the schools didn’t hold up their end of the bargain and demanded full or partial refunds. The schools argued they did the best they could to provide educational and other services and lived up to their agreements with students.
The decisions in all four cases were unanimous and very similar in their reasoning. Appeals Judge Stephen Borrello wrote in the MSU decision that the school did the best it could under difficult circumstances.
“It is undeniable that courses were initially offered as in-person classes and that on-campus events were canceled due to an unexpected global crisis, the pandemic,” he wrote. “Despite the pandemic, MSU successfully maintained the core of its educational mission—providing instruction and various services for students— throughout the pandemic. Furthermore, there was never an agreement stipulating that education and services had to be delivered in a specific format. Therefore, it is wholly fair and just for MSU to retain the tuition and fees it collected.”
The court dismissed most of the claims in the Western Michigan University case, but did return it to the Michigan Court of Claims to determine whether the plaintiffs have any grounds to argue there was a breach of contract.
The families could take their cases now to the Michigan Supreme Court. But the state’s highest court has already refused similar cases and these decisions could very well be the final word.
