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Some University Students Want Schools to Return Their Money
They wanted to experience college life, but their universities sent them home to learn from online classes during the coronavirus crisis.
Now, students across the United States are taking legal action against over 20 colleges and universities. They want the schools to return part of the money they paid for tuition, meal plans and housing costs. The students say they are not getting the quality of education they were promised.
The cases show students' growing dissatisfaction with online courses that schools hurried to create as the coronavirus forced college campuses to close. The students say they should pay lower tuition rates for the part of the term that was offered on the internet. They argue that the quality of education is far below the classroom experience.
However, college officials reject the idea that students are owed refunds1. Students are learning from the same professors who teach on campus, officials say. And the students are still earning credits toward their education. Schools say that, after being forced to close by their states, they are still offering students a quality education.
Grainger Rickenbaker is a 21-year-old student from South Carolina. He filed a class-action lawsuit3 against Drexel University in Philadelphia. He said the online classes he has been taking are poor substitutes for classroom learning. There is little interaction with other students or professors, he said. And some classes are being taught almost entirely4 through pre-recorded videos, with no class discussion.
Other students report similar experiences. A case against the University of California, Berkeley, says some professors are only sending homework assignments, with no video teaching at all. A case against Vanderbilt University in Tennessee says class discussion has been affected5 and the educational quality of classes has decreased.
In Indiana, a Purdue University engineering student says the school's closing has prevented him from finishing his senior project: building an airplane. His complaint says no online class can reproduce the real-world experience he had hoped to gain from the project.
Class-action lawsuits6 demanding tuition refunds have been launched against at least 26 colleges, targeting private universities, such as Brown, Columbia and Cornell. Students also have brought cases against large public universities, such as Michigan State and the University of Colorado, Boulder7.
Some of the suits note some schools' financial holdings. They accuse schools of unfairly keeping refunds even when the value of their endowments is often more than $1 billion.
Several colleges would not comment on the cases. But some said students have continued to get what they paid for.
Ken2 McConnellogue works for the University of Colorado. He said it is disappointing that people have been so quick to take legal action only weeks into the health crisis.
McConellogue told The Associated Press that professors have been working hard to provide the same high quality education as that of the classroom.
He admits that classroom and online learning are different. "We all would prefer to have students on our campuses," he said, but noted8 we are in the middle of a worldwide health crisis.
Officials at Michigan State said their students are still taking classes taught by qualified9 teachers. And the school is still offering learning support services, academic advising, online office hours with teachers and library services.
Emily Guerrant is a Michigan State spokeswoman. She says her university has spent more money to move classes online. She added that the school has kept its promise to provide meaningful learning experiences "at no additional cost" to students.
Officials at Drexel University said the school has continued to provide many academic offerings and support while students learn from home.
Lawyers representing students, however, say the refunds are a question of fairness.
Roy Wiley is a lawyer for the Anastopoulo Law Firm in South Carolina, which is representing students in more than 12 cases.
Willey said his office has been contacted by hundreds of students seeking legal action, and his office is looking into several possible cases. Other law offices taking on similar cases say they are also seeing a rising demand from students and parents who say they should get refunds.
Along with tuition, the cases also seek refunds for costs that students paid to use physical fitness centers, laboratories and other buildings that are now closed. The lawsuits seek refunds that could add up to several thousand dollars per student at some schools.
Lawyers are asking courts to answer a difficult question as universities move classes online: Is there a difference in value between online classes and the traditional classroom?
Supporters of online education say it can be just as effective. And universities say they have done everything they can to create high-quality online classes in just a few weeks.
But some of the suits say that the college experience is about more than course credits. They say there is a value to the personal interaction students get with professors and other students, both in and out of the classroom.
Willey adds that colleges themselves often charge lower costs for online classes, which he says is a sign of their value.
一些大学生希望学校归还学费
学生们想体验大学生活，但在冠状病毒危机期间，他们所在的大学把他们送回家去通过网课学习。
现在，美国各地的学生正在对20多所高校采取法律行动。他们希望学校返还部分学费、伙食费和住房费用。学生们表示，他们无法获得校方承诺的教育质量。
这些案例表明，随着冠状病毒迫使大学校园关闭，学生们对学校匆忙开设的网课越来越不满。学生们说，他们应该为这学期在网上提供的部分课程支付较低的学费。他们认为这样的教育质量远远低于去课堂上课。
然而，学院官员反对校方应向学生支付退款的观点。官员们说，教授学生们的教授就是在教室授课的那些老师，学生们也还在挣取学分。校方称，州政府强迫学校关门后，他们仍在为学生提供优质教育。
葛雷杰·理肯贝克是一名来自南卡罗来纳州的21岁学生。他对费城德雷克塞尔大学提起集体诉讼。他说，他一直在上的网课很难替代课堂学习，与其他学生或教授的互动很少。有些课程几乎完全通过预先录制的视频来授课，没有课堂讨论。
其他学生也有类似的经历，加州大学伯克利分校的一个案例表述，一些教授只是布置作业，根本没有视频教学。田纳西州范德比尔特大学的一个案例中表述，课堂讨论受到影响，课堂授课质量下降。
在印第安纳州，普渡大学的一名工科学生说，学校关闭使他无法完成制造飞机的高级项目。他抱怨说，没有一门在线课程能够重现他希望从该项目中获得的真实体验。
学生们至少对26所大学提出了要求退还学费的集体诉讼，针对的是布朗大学、哥伦比亚大学和康奈尔大学等私立大学。学生们还对大型公立大学提起诉讼，如密歇根州立大学和科罗拉多大学博尔德分校。
一些诉讼记录了某些学校的财务状况，他们指责学校不退款的做法不公平，即使他们的捐赠基金价值经常超过10亿美元。
几所大学不愿对这些案件发表评论。但也有人说，学生们会陆续获得高质量的教育。
肯·麦康奈洛就职于科罗拉多大学。他说，疫情爆发仅数周后，人们就迅速采取法律行动，这真令人失望。
麦康奈洛告诉美联社，教授们一直在努力提供和课堂授课一样高质量的教育。
他承认课堂教学和在线学习不同，他说：“我们都希望学生能来校园上课，”但他指出，我们正处于全球健康危机之中。
密歇根州的官员表示，他们的学生仍在上由合格的教师讲授的课程。学校仍在提供学习支持服务、学术咨询、教师在线办公时间和图书馆服务。
埃米莉·格兰特是密歇根州的一位女发言人，她说她所在的大学花费更多的钱款开设网课。她补充道，学校信守承诺，为学生“免费”提供易于理解的学习体验。
德雷克塞尔大学的官员说，校方在学生在家学习期间，继续提供许多学术服务和支持。
不过，代表学生的律师表示，退款是一个公平性问题。
罗伊·威利是南卡罗来纳州阿纳斯托普洛律师事务所的律师，该事务所代表学生处理了超过12起案件。
威利说，数百名学生与他的办公室联系，要求采取法律行动，他的办公室正在调查几个可能的案件。其他受理类似案件的律师事务所表示，他们也看到学生和家长要求退款的呼声越来越高。
除了学费，这些案件还要求退还学生使用现已关闭的健身中心、实验室和其他建筑所支付的费用。诉讼要求的退款，在一些学校里，每名学生的退费加在一起可能高达数千美元。
随着各所大学推出网课，律师们要求法庭回答一个难题：在线课堂和传统课堂的价值是否存在差别？
支持在线教育的人表示，两者都有效。校方表示，他们已经尽一切努力在短短几周内创建出高质量的在线课程。
但有人说，上大学不仅仅是获取学分，学生在课堂内外与教授和其他学生进行的互动同样存在价值。
威利补充说，大学对网课收取的费用通常较低，这成了课程价值的一个标志。
收听单词发音 |
1
refunds
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| n.归还，偿还额，退款( refund的名词复数 )v.归还，退还( refund的第三人称单数 ) | |
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ken
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| n.视野，知识领域 | |
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lawsuit
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| n.诉讼，控诉 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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lawsuits
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| n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 ) | |
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boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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