BOULDER, Colo — The University of Colorado will pay $5 million in a class-action lawsuit filed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The settlement covers all students who paid for services they were denied during the spring 2020 semester at the CU Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver and Anschutz campuses.
The suit accuses CU of breaching its contract with students.
At the beginning of the semester, CU charged students millions of dollars in fees to access school services. Then, when the campus shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic and services weren't available, CU refused to give any money back.
"Students generally are cash poor in the first place, and it’s not fair to keep their money when they’re getting nothing in return,” said the Colorado Law Team representing students in a news release, going on to say, "This isn’t a windfall for students. This just puts a little bit of money in their pockets that they should have gotten back a while ago.”
The settlement will be allocated to the four CU campuses based on how much each one charges students for tuition and fees. University of Colorado Boulder will get $3.5 million; University of Colorado Denver will get $1.5 million; University of Colorado, Colorado Springs will get $400,000 and University of Colorado Anschutz will get $50,000 of the total payout.
Students will have 180 days to redeem their portion of the settlement from when CU's mandated repayment period begins, which is expected at some point this summer.
Students can go here for more information.
