The Sultzer Law Group has been relentless in fighting big universities to ensure all students are justly refunded for paying full tuition costs for an at-home learning experience. In another victory, The Sultzer Law Group represented a group of students at a for-profit private university, the Stephens Institute, located in San Francisco, California. In denying, in relevant part, Stephens Institute’s Motion to Dismiss, the Court found that there were grounds to believe that the institution breached its contract with students to provide in-person learning experiences in exchange for full tuition costs.
Judge Jeffrey S. White, in the Northern District of California, found that students at Stephens Institute had entered a contract where Plaintiffs agreed to pay tuition fees in exchange for in-person instruction and access to on-campus services for the Spring 2020 academic semester. This representation was explicitly made in the university’s “marketing, advertisements, and other public representations”. It was also explicitly stated by the university that Plaintiffs would pay the Student Activity Fee, as defined in the Spring 2020 Catalog Addendum, to “[c]over various services provided on-campus. This includes services from the Academic Resource Center, some special events, and bus services.”
During the Spring 2020 semester, students were unable to access any of these services and therefore it was plausible for Plaintiffs to request a refund of their full tuition payment for the Spring 2020 semester. Accordingly, the Court ascertained that there was enough evidence to plead a breach of contract claim since Plaintiffs paid full-tuition in expectation of the full use of promised on-campus experiences that they did not receive and were therefore entitled to a pro-rata reimbursement of tuition paid.
What does this mean for you? If you were a student during the 2020 Spring Semester and enrolled at university based on the representation to obtain benefits from an on-campus learning experience, you may be entitled to reimbursement of your paid tuition. Do not hesitate to contact our team today at (800) 552-0265 to speak about your Spring 2020 tuition experience.