In mid-March of 2020, many universities and colleges announced that, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person lectures will be suspended through the remainder of the quarter/semester (Q/S) and now we know that it will be continued to be online for the next Q/S.

While the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus is ultimately out of the control of the university, it is also not the responsibility of students to bear the cost of the impact of the coronavirus on academic resources. It’s completely unreasonable for the student body to pay the full cost of tuition and in some cases housing because many students will be completing programs online that are not even officially offered as online programs by the University.

This is a problem that every person and business in our country is dealing with therefore colleges need to also take a part in this. The fact that school has transitioned to remote teaching means that us students are not going to get the same level of education, in addition to the fact that the school does not have as much expenses as they usually would now that everything is remote. Therefore, student costs should reflect the value of the education they are receiving and be adjusted to the stagnant economy.

Closure of schools has affected all students and hourly staff. However, as it stands, College administrations and salary employees won’t be affected.

o  Students pay the same tuition regardless of how much time and learning they lose with classes transitioning to online and lose of access to resources.

o  Administrators continue to earn their comfortable salaries even if classrooms are empty.

o  It's a public system, therefore students can't really "take their business elsewhere." The colleges therefore have a monopoly.

 

If you agree to proceed with partial discount/refund, please sign this petition so we can take further action.

 

Here is a list of some of the larger schools that closed due to coronavirus:

 

California

• San Francisco State University

• California Institute of the Arts

• Cal State Long Beach

• University of California, Berkeley

• University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

• University of Southern California

• Stanford University

Connecticut

• Yale University

Delaware

• University of Delaware

District of Columbia

• American University

• Georgetown University

• George Washington University

Florida

• University of Florida

• University of North Florida

• University of South Florida

• University of West Florida

• Florida Polytechnic University

• Florida State University

• New College of Florida

• University of Central Florida

• Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU)

• Florida Atlantic University

• Florida Gulf Coast University

• Florida International University

Georgia

• Emory University

• Kennesaw State University

• Georgia Southern

• Georgia State University

• University of Georgia

Illinois

• Northwestern University

• University of Illinois-Springfield

Indiana

• Indiana University

• Notre Dame

• Purdue University

Maine

• Bowdoin College

Maryland

• Johns Hopkins

• University System of Maryland

• Morgan State University

Massachusetts

• Amherst College

• Babson College

• Boston College

• Boston University

• Harvard University

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• University of Massachusetts

• Tufts University

Michigan

• Michigan State University

• Eastern Michigan University

• Oakland University

• Western Michigan University

• Wayne State University

• University of Michigan

New Jersey

• Princeton University

• Rutgers

• Drew University

• New Jersey City University

• New Jersey Institute of Technology

New York

• Columbia University and Barnard College

• Cornell University

• Hofstra University

• Syracuse University

• The City University of New York (CUNY)

• New York University (NYU)

• Yeshiva University

• Skidmore College

North Carolina

• Duke University

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• University of North Carolina at Greensboro

• Elon University

Ohio

• Ohio State University

• Kent State University

• University of Cincinnati

• University of Dayton

Oklahoma

• University of Tulsa

Pennsylvania

• Penn State

• West Chester University

• University of Pittsburgh

Rhode Island

• Brown University

Tennessee

• Vanderbilt

Texas

• Rice University

• Texas A&M University

• Baylor University

Virginia

• University of Virginia

• The College of William & Mary

• Virginia Tech

Washington state

• Seattle Pacific University

• Washington State University (WSU) 

• Bellevue college

• Seattle University

• University of Washington

Wisconsin

• University of Wisconsin-Madison

• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

 

 

Sources:

Levenson, Eric, and Chris Boyette. “Colleges and Universities across the US Are Canceling in-Person Classes Due to Coronavirus.” CNN, Cable News Network, 12 Mar. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/03/09/us/coronavirus-university-college-classes/index.html

“UW Classes Will No Longer Meet in Person through End of Quarter.” UW News, www.washington.edu/news/2020/03/06/uw-classes-moving-online-beginning-march-9/

Kitaura/Dateline, Cody, and Dateline Staff. “Coronavirus: Information Line Now in Service.” UC Davis, 18 Mar. 2020, www.ucdavis.edu/coronavirus/news/updates

“Bellevue College COVID-19 Resource Page :: Public Safety @ Bellevue College.” Bellevue College, www.bellevuecollege.edu/publicsafety/flu/