College students are not stupid. So, back in mid-March, when it became clear that any campus could flame into a virus hot spot, and students across the country were sent home with instructions not to return from spring break, it didn’t take long for them to wonder why they should continue paying top dollar for a higher education experience that was playing out in their childhood bedrooms. After a few fascinating hours of online lectures, it occurred to some who’d already shelled out a full semester’s tuition that they might be entitled to a partial refund.
Tuition at the University of Chicago is nearly $58,000 annually (room, board, and fees add another $20,000 or so), which makes it one of the most expensive colleges in the country. But it also has one of the most generous financial support programs, bolstered by the announcement two years ago that it will guarantee free tuition for students whose family income is less than $125,000 annually, and will throw in free room, board, and fees for those with family incomes of less than $60,000.
Lawsuits against schools like Indiana University and Purdue claim that, in effect, students have paid for a car, but are getting a bicycle. This is the education-as-a-commodity argument that academics have historically rejected, and it’s led some schools to the treacherously in-kind reply that, well, students are still getting the credits they signed up for.
