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I envy kids graduating high school without a clear vision for the future. Covid-19 allows those kids a free pass to avoid school for a year to figure out exactly what they want to do with their lives.
On the other hand, I feel awful for kids currently enrolled in college. Those students are getting totally screwed by campuses shutting down for half a year, athletic schedules being wiped out, and a few schools completely shutting down.
Thanks to Covid-19, millions of college students are spending the “best time of their lives” studying in their childhood bedrooms while paying full price for the college experience.
One Yale University student isn’t too happy about being charged $79,000 to attend the school last year – a fee that includes room and board – even though he hasn’t been on campus in months. He’s suing the school over the full price tag for virtual learning.
Jonathan Michel, of Ohio, filed the case in New Haven federal court on July 29, arguing that he shouldn’t have to pay in full for an online education.
“Defendant is attempting to replace the irreplaceable – on-campus life at an elite university – with ‘virtual learning’ via online classes, and is attempting to pass off this substitute educational experience as the same as or just as good as fully participation in the university’s academic life,” the case states.
According to the filing, Michel paid $27,270 in fees for the Spring 2020 semester. The student argues that “Yale breached its contract with students who were expecting the full suite of on-campus activities and services.”
“The online learning Yale instituted March 23 cannot replace the comprehensive educational experience promised by Yale, such as access to facilities, materials, and faculty, and the opportunity for on-campus living, school events, collaborative learning, dialogue, feedback, and critique are essential to the in-person educational experience.”
The suit also notes that Yale University has an annual endowment of $30 billion.
Michel is “seeking reimbursement of fees corresponding to the time that remained in the school year before the closure.”
A Yale spokesperson told The Hartford Courant that the suit is baseless and the school intends to fight the case in court.
[via New York Post]
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