By Celeste Bott

Law360 (May 27, 2020, 3:22 PM EDT) -- Loyola University Chicago is the latest institution to face a proposed class action seeking to recoup tuition and fees students were charged during the spring semester amid coronavirus-related school closures, as a parent accused the university of withholding refunds despite allegedly receiving more than $10 million in government aid.

The private, Jesuit university hasn't held any in-person classes since March 12, and students have been forced into online classes that are merely a "shadow" of the in-person instruction students and families paid for, said named plaintiff Andreea Gociman, whose son is a second-year undergraduate student at Loyola. But they haven't been reimbursed for tuition or mandatory fees despite an influx of funds the university reportedly received through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, she said in her lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Illinois federal court.

The result is an "enormous windfall" to the university, Gociman said, allowing Loyola to profit and leaving students and families to bear the financial brunt of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Essentially, plaintiff and class members paid defendant for access to buildings and facilities that students were not permitted to enter, equipment and technology that they could not use, internships in which they could not participate and much more," Gociman said. "Additionally, plaintiff and class members paid defendant for a quality of instruction, which, due to the abrupt shift to online learning, defendant did not deliver."

"College education is expensive and people spend years saving for college and struggling to pay off student loans. Students should get what they pay for," said E. Michelle Drake of Berger Montague, counsel for the proposed class. "When a university does not provide the educational services and facilities that it promised, the students should get refunds. We look forward to achieving justice for our client and class members in this important case."

A representative for Loyola University did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

By mid-March, Loyola's campus largely shut down, denying students access to resources and services they already paid for, according to the suit. Although Loyola has offered some partial refunds for room and board charges, it has refused to issue refunds for tuition and most other fees, Gociman said.

On-campus, full-time undergraduate students such as Gociman's son paid roughly $22,000 in tuition per semester, while part-time undergraduate students paid about $800 per credit hour, on top of a "dizzying array" of other mandatory fees for other programs and services, according to the complaint.

"Plaintiff and class members contracted and paid for Loyola students to receive the holistic, integrated, in-person, high-quality educational experience in the heart of Chicago, which Loyola marketed and guaranteed to them," Gociman said. "Since the campus closure and forced shift to online learning, Loyola students have not received such an education."

Gociman — suing for breach of contract, restitution based on quasi-contract and conversion — seeks to represent all persons who paid tuition and mandatory fees and other costs to Loyola for an in-person class or classes to be conducted during the spring 2020 semester and who didn't receive the "in-person education for which they paid."

Gociman is represented by Elizabeth A. Fegan of Fegan Scott LLC and Shanon J. Carson, Ellen T. Noteware and E. Michelle Drake of Berger Montague PC.

Counsel information for Loyola University was not immediately available Wednesday.

The case is Gociman v. Loyola University Chicago, case number 1:20-cv-03116, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

--Editing by Stephen Berg.

Update: This story has been updated with comment from counsel. 

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