University of Delaware agrees to settle class-action suit over COVID campus shutdown

The University of Delaware has agreed to a settlement of $6.3 million in a lawsuit related to the closure of its campus and the transition to online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

According to recently filed court documents signed by the plaintiffs and university president Dennis Assanis, approximately 21,000 current and former students may be eligible to receive cash reimbursements as part of the settlement.

Although the university has agreed to settle the case, it continues to deny any wrongdoing as alleged in the lawsuit.

Court records indicate that the university reached a preliminary agreement in late April, shortly after a federal judge ruled that the case could proceed as a class action, representing thousands of students who were enrolled and paid tuition during the spring semester of 2020 when the campus was closed.

Pending final court approval, the settlement requires the university to deposit $6.3 million into an escrow account overseen by a settlement administrator. Out of this amount, $2.1 million will be allocated as attorney fees for the plaintiffs’ legal representation, and up to $250,000 will cover reimbursement of expenses. The five students who served as named plaintiffs in the lawsuit will each receive $5,000 as class representatives.

The remaining portion of the settlement will be divided equally among the class members, comprising both undergraduate and graduate students who paid tuition and fees for the spring 2020 semester and choose not to opt out of the settlement. Class members will receive their reimbursements automatically via a mailed check sent to their last known mailing address. To update their address or opt for payments through Venmo or PayPal, class members can complete an election form on a settlement website that will be established.

In a ruling made in March, Judge Stephanos Bibas certified the lawsuit as a class action and rejected the university’s argument that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. The plaintiffs had accused the university of breach of contract and unjust enrichment. The university also unsuccessfully contended that it was difficult to determine which students actually paid tuition, as some may have used external sources such as scholarships.

Judge Bibas emphasized “Those students, no less than students who paid out of their own pockets, were parties to a contract that U. Delaware allegedly breached”. The only students excluded from the class of plaintiffs were those who received full scholarships.

According to the ruling, over 17,000 undergraduates were enrolled at the University of Delaware during the spring 2020 semester, and the university collected more than $160 million in tuition during that period.

The plaintiffs argued that prior to the pandemic, the university treated in-person and online classes as distinct offerings, charging higher fees for certain in-person programs compared to similar online courses. They also highlighted that the university collected fees for services such as the gym, student centers, and health center, often at higher rates than those paid by online students, while denying them access to those services during the campus closure caused by the pandemic.

Bibas had previously determined that the plaintiffs had put forth plausible claims asserting that the university had implicitly guaranteed them access to in-person classes, activities, and services.