King County judge allows student’s suit against UW to go forward

A King County Superior Court judge has made an initial move in favor of a University of Washington graduate student suing the UW over the cost of schooling.

Tuition rates haven’t dropped, but that student says he and his peers are not getting the same experience this year — so he is looking to the courts to get a discount.

The student filed a class action suit last fall to seek a partial refund of tuition and fees in light of the remote learning that has taken place this year.

“He had signed up for in-person, on-campus education, use of facilities, services, activities, things like that,” explained Daniel Kurowski, an attorney with Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, which is representing the plaintiff. “And then once those closures occurred, he no longer received those services and those experiences that he had bargained for.”

UW grad student seeks repayment of tuition, fees during COVID closure

The university tried to get the case tossed out, but this week, the King County judge denied the school’s request, allowing the suit to go forward.

Kurowski sees this early decision as a precursor of more victories to come.

The University of Washington told KIRO Radio in a statement that it has continued to provide quality education, and has actually incurred more costs because of the additional teaching support being offered to students right now.

“Course evaluations throughout this period of mostly online instruction have been overwhelmingly positive,” the statement read.

It also noted that the judge had thrown out certain claims about violations of the Washington State and U.S. Constitutions.

“While we are hoping to return to in-person classes as soon as it is safe to do so, we believe we are providing the top-quality education that is expected from the UW,” the university stated. “The University has offered great flexibility to students seeking to unenroll or change courses without penalty.”

However, Kurowski said it is less a question of quality and more a question of what kinds of on-campus educational and recreational amenities the students are missing out on, from fitness facilities to library books, to student activities and events.

“It’s things like state-of-the-art facilities, access to laboratories equipped with modern research equipment,” he said. “If you’re a performing arts major, we’re talking about rehearsal and performance spaces. Studios, technologies. Often times, many classes have hands-on experiences.”

Kurowski points out that the tuition and fees students pay do not just cover class time — they also pay for everything that makes up the college experience.

“The university experience is more than just the ability and opportunity to obtain credits,” he said. “If it was, the price of tuition would be very different.”

An online petition for the partial reimbursement of tuition for 2020’s spring semester — when the pandemic began — gained more than 15,000 signatures.

This is by no means just a UW issue either, and the ruling from this case could help add a precedent for other institutions of higher learning.

Kurowski said more than 200 other similar cases have been brought forward by disappointed university students across the country, most of them so far leaning in the students’ direction. Another judge compared the disparity between remote and in-person class to the difference between seeing a performance of Hamilton in the theatre and watching the recorded version online.

“This court in Washington, following Washington law, has issued a ruling that is similar to what courts across the country are seeing, so … this case follows the precedent that was already before the court,” he said.

Follow @NicoleKIROFM