Lincoln University COVID Tuition Settlement Up to 10.25M Over Spring 2020 Refunds

Lincoln University, like many colleges in spring 2020, rapidly shifted from in-person instruction and campus services to remote operations as COVID-19 spread and public-health restrictions took hold. Students who had paid tuition and mandatory fees for a traditional on-campus experience often lost access to facilities and services—such as classrooms, labs, libraries, recreation centers, housing-related amenities, and campus activities—while classes moved online partway through the semester. The class action was filed on behalf of students enrolled for Spring 2020 who did not withdraw by March 12, 2020 and were not fully refunded, alleging they paid for an in-person educational experience and campus resources but received something materially different once operations went remote. The proposed settlement (up to $10.25 million) is significant because it provides a structured mechanism for partial refunds without requiring each student to sue individually, and it reflects a broader legal debate over whether tuition and fees are best viewed as payment for credits and instruction generally, or for a specific on-campus experience and bundled services. Similar “COVID tuition and fee” lawsuits have been brought nationwide against public and private universities, with mixed outcomes depending on state contract law, the wording of university catalogs and fee descriptions, and doctrines like sovereign immunity for public institutions. In the higher-education industry, tuition and mandatory fee practices are shaped by consumer-protection principles and contract-like commitments in enrollment materials, while refunds and institutional accountability are also influenced by accreditation expectations and federal Title IV rules governing return of funds when a student withdraws—though many pandemic cases center on service/value changes without formal withdrawal.