Dear President Myers,

I hope this letter finds you in good health.

On behalf of myself, Angelina Tran, and other out-of-state students at Kansas State University, we are requesting the university to partially refund our tuition due to the switch from in-person to online classes.

Currently, Kansas State University charges $841.70 per credit hour for out-of-state students.  The standing Global Campus cost is $436.40 per credit hour, before distance fees and faculty surcharges.  

While we understand the decision to switch to a completely online campus was in response to an event (CO-VID 19) that is out of Kansas State University’s control, and agree with this decision, we feel it is necessary that we are compensated for the price difference of these classes.  Having given these online courses a week (March 23-27) to adjust, we feel that the change is substantial, and reason enough to be compensated for the price and quality difference of our education.

We are asking that you refund us for the difference of:

½ of Out-Of-State Tuition (minus) ½ Global Campus Tuition for the spring semester

(plus distance fees and faculty surcharges)

For example, for 15 credits, ½ of Out-Of-State Tuition $6,312.50, minus ½ of Global Campus Tuition $3,273, to total a refund of $3,039.50 before adding distance fees and faculty surcharges.

Other schools, such as University of California Irvine, are receiving pressure to refund students for not only housing and dining, but also tuition.  We hope that K-State will choose to be on the moral side of this global discussion and be a leader for other universities around the world, by taking the initiative to reimburse students for a decision that they were not given the opportunity to make.

Our mission statement as a university states, 

“The mission of Kansas State University is to foster excellent teaching, research, and service that develop a highly skilled and educated citizenry necessary to advancing the well-being of Kansas, the nation, and the international community...Through quality teaching, the university is committed to provide all students with opportunities to develop the knowledge, understanding, and skills characteristic of an educated person.” 

We encourage you to remember this statement as you make the decision to refund us for the cost difference between out-of-state and Global Campus courses.

Thank you for taking the time to hear our concerns and consider our request.  We hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Angelina Vy Tran, Nebraska

On behalf of:

Aidan Lee, Missouri

Alexis Brenner, Colorado

Amelia Schatz, Minnesota

Chase Spence, Georgia

Drew Murray, Texas

Emilie Fitzgerald, New Hampshire

Hunter Kenney, California

Jaden Jones-Frasier, Germany

Jared Quintana, Nebraska

Jordan Austin, Texas

Keyanna Clemons, Illinois

McKenna Woolery, Missouri

Meagan Parkins, Iowa

Megan Ballor, Michigan

Michaela Ross, Missouri

Preston Wooten, Texas

Raiden Guialdo, New York

Sam Hudgens, Missouri

Stefan Titeica, Colorado

William Einspahr, Texas

To view the official letter, please click here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DmEUqRKFRWH0xzO7PFVqxUD1pZ0B4ndeEEY1iyuJgiM/edit?usp=sharing