This petition has been endorsed and shared by Northwestern Associated Student Government (ASG).

As a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic crisis, Governor Pritzker has declared a state of emergency in Illinois. In response, Northwestern University made the sensible decision to offer all Spring 2020 courses online for the start of the quarter and will likely extend this to the rest of the quarter as the situation worsens. While this is certainly the right call to ensure the health and safety of all students, Northwestern's tuition and fees do not accurately reflect the value lost by switching to online education for potentially an entire term. For the following reasons, we are seeking a partial refund of tuition and full refund of room and board for the Spring 2020 quarter:

Since Northwestern is a top private university, the estimated annual cost of attendance of $78,654 goes towards a comprehensive academic experience that cannot be fully replicated online. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, students paying for the Northwestern experience will no longer have access to invaluable face-to-face interaction with faculty, resources necessary for specific programs, and access to facilities that enable learning. For example, engineering students will no longer have access to the "hands-on" learning experience that McCormick prides itself on providing (e.g. not being able to build and test prototypes in the Ford Engineering Design Center). Furthermore, undergraduate research opportunities are a major draw for Northwestern students, and it is expected that research projects will be suspended for the foreseeable future as labs begin to close. Extracurricular activities and intramural sports have already mostly been suspended since most of these cannot be conducted remotely. It also follows that if the online learning period is extended, room and board for students living on campus should be fully refunded or at the very minimum prorated to match the length of the online learning period.

We believe that these are essential parts of the Northwestern experience that students pay for. As a result, we are seeking a partial monetary refund for the Spring 2020 quarter. While it is important to maintain social distancing and self-quarantine for public health, the hundreds of hours lost of in-person learning at Northwestern are invaluable, and it would be completely unfair to require students to pay for an experience that we are not receiving. Students and families are also facing numerous financial difficulties due to the economic fallout of COVID-19, including layoffs and access to food and housing.

A partial refund of tuition already paid, reduced billing on tuition collection, and full refund of room and board would not only more accurately reflect the value of the education received this quarter, but also assist in mitigating the financial stress of the situation for thousands of students and families. Therefore, we kindly request that the NU administration reduce prices for the Spring 2020 quarter.

* Although a final announcement has not been made yet regarding whether the online learning period will be extended, tuition is due April 1st, so we felt it would be prudent to post the petition now.

* Because NU is on the quarter system, this is a legitimate opportunity to modify tuition and room/board to match the current situation. This is materially different from semester schools where students have already paid for Spring 2020 and are requesting refunds.

* Any refunds/reductions made should not adversely impact low-income students who receive refunds/financial aid to cover the cost of off-campus housing.