University of Delaware students who paid tuition during the pandemic-affected 2020 spring semester are seeing payouts from a class action lawsuit settled last summer.
UD agreed to pay $6.3 million as a result of two federal lawsuits filed in October 2020, citing that before the pandemic, tuition for online courses was less expensive than in-person classes.
Around $2.35 million will go to attorneys and the five students acting as class representatives in the lawsuit each received $5,000. The remainder of the money is being distributed equally among UD students who do not opt out of the settlement and paid tuition and fees for the spring 2020 semester. That payout is about $200.
UD issued the same statement made last summer when the lawsuit was settled - saying it disagrees with the claims but feels resolving the lawsuit is in the best interest of its students - allowing them to focus on their education.
The full statement reads:
"The University of Delaware is proud of the integrated efforts of our faculty and staff to successfully transition more than 6,400 class sections from in-person to virtual instruction in Spring 2020 in the face of unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. While we disagree with Plaintiffs' claims, the University determined that resolving this lawsuit is in the best interest of our students and in order to remain focused on our mission to steer students along a fulfilling educational journey to earn their college degrees."
