College/Universities not offering refunds for 2020 Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I think it's very generous that colleges and universities are refunding for room and board. It's not like they can re-purpose those dorm rooms...they are just losing that money that they expected to get, which will be millions of dollars. The idea that you should get tuition back is ridiculous. Universities are making huge efforts to deliver content online...this is not an easy task, and you should be grateful that your kid is getting to finish the semester. Get over yourself and understand that this is a totally unforeseen situation that nobody could have planned for.

+ yup, this. It sucks. I’m not saying it doesn’t. People are losing money on everything. It’s better you lose some money than the universities have to refund every student and then go bankrupt.

Another +1 to both above. Our DC's school is not refunding room and board but giving credit for them so when DC eventually returns (even if it's next school year) that expenditure will be credited to us. I too think it's generous of the college. All colleges are doing the best they can in a totally unprecedented situation. Their employees, from the president to professors to dining hall staff and cleaners, ALL deserve their pay in full at this time; they have obligations and families too. I know the professors are working as hard as they can right now to make courses that were never designed to be taught online (such as lab-based science and performing arts) SOMEHOW work that way at least for now. It's personal -- half my DC's current course load is classes that are not really doable online, but the professors are having to rethink the very core of how these courses work. I do not envy them and I certainly don't begrudge them their pay.

And another +1

My DC's school is still in the process of if/when to refund room and board or credit us for next year. As PPs have said, all colleges are doing the best they can for their students, faculty and staff. My DD is a liberal arts major and has a close relationship with her professors. They have to rework their seminar-based classes to a distance learning model in a matter of days. As well as manage their own family obligations. I don't begrudge the college 2 months room and board if this helps everyone from the professors to the dining hall staff to the business offices employees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This line of reasoning is SO entitled and uninformed.

I am a college professor. I cannot tell you how much extra work it is to take fully developed in person courses and convert them to DL (distance learning) format. We are also having to take intensive training in multiple platforms, to pull this off. You do NOT deserve a refund of tuition if your school is finishing classes up online. We don't push some button and that all works, seamlessly. I know science professors who are in labs doing experiments, so kids have data to analyze and write up from home.

Jeez, this is a national crisis. You likely deserve room and board credits. But you do not deserve tuition refunds. Trust me, from someone on the inside (who is working way more, and harder, than I was when we were doing in person teaching).

Well, you sure sound entitled yourself. If I pay for a service of specific quality and that quality is not met, of course I deserve a refund. And, of course, if the university keeps you employed, you deserve your salary. You assume I, the consumer, pay directly your salary. No, I pay the university, which has its own mechanisms, including insurance, bankruptcy coverage, and so on.

It's not about faculty not doing their job, it's about the contract signed. Does it say in small print "and it's valid even for online teaching in emergency situations"? If yes, then I should pay. If not, then let's talk about it. We anyway don't pay real price, i.e., quality of teaching. Some pay for brand, for the child's experience, especially for ivies, expensive privates, rubbing elbows with so and so ... how is that going on work with DL?

The Professor is just salty because he or she now has to work over 10 hours a week for that six figure salary.

It sounds like you're salty because you blindly signed a contract and are stuck paying it...

I'm sorry. It must be incredibly difficult to go through life being this stupid.

My kid is in elementary school, silly. It’s just funny to listen to a professor whine that he or she has to actually do something besides drone through the same prewritten lecture twice a week.

NP. Your kid is in elementary school? You have less than zero knowledge about this topic, then. If you think you can bring your ugly snark here because professors "droned through prewritten lectures" back in your day at wherever you went to college, you are beyond clueless, and I pity your child, especially when the time comes for your child to apply to colleges.

Your blanket assumptions about how college education works and what professors do is laughable. Are there dud professors? Yes, just like there are dud parents who think it's fine to criticize posters about whom they know nothing.

No, I'm not a professor but I pay attention to what my college student's professors do, and they actually earn every penny they make.

Yeah, sure. They must be doing something really special to justify charging students and their families 60-70k per year in tuition.

[Anonymous]

Parent of a freshman, I don’t think the school owes me a refund. There is no way schools could have known this was coming or budgeted for it. My kid’s school provided free packing materials, free storage, and a free shuttle to the airport. That cost money. I’m grateful for how they handled this situation and do not want nor expect a refund of any kind.

[Anonymous]

So far DC’s school has yet to say what if any refunds are coming for housing and food.

[Anonymous]

Pomona just announced they're giving a prorated refund.

[Anonymous]

I’m going to have a word with the Dean of Harvard College.