[zaroth]

I don’t understand how universities think they can get away with charging full tuition to students while offering online only classes. I would be so furious if I was stuck in this situation of trying to graduate on time but being scammed out of the whole experience I worked so hard to get in to.

If the schools feel so strongly against reopening they should waive their tuition for anyone already enrolled to attend online and close enrollment to new students, and give anyone the option to defer if desired.

I don’t blame ICE for not extending their exemption past the summer for online classes. The visa does not allow for online courses. Schools are not making an evidence based decision here, and should not expect special treatment if they aren’t willing to offer actual classes. I hope the students who are suing will prevail in court for unjust enrichment.

[sukilot]

Tuition is a consensual transaction. Students can withdraw if they don't like what the school is offering. How is it unjust to sell something people want? Remember, tuition is for the diploma. The education is already available online for free, or for much cheaper at a local community college, in almost every case.

[PaulDavisThe1st]

> I don’t blame ICE for not extending their exemption past the summer for online classes.

1. difficulty of returning home 2. risk of pandemic spread by returning home 3. internet connectivity issues 4. timezone issues 5. software availability issues 6. home suitability for studying 7. ....

"I don't blame ICE". Destroy ICE. This is appalling.

When I became a citizen 3 years ago, I told people that one motivation was that I was very very slightly afraid of Trump even though I was a white european permanent resident of 28 years. It's only taken 3 years to get to where I'd say "not imminently but genuinely afraid" for that sort of immigration status.

[zaroth]

The schools really should have thought through of all this before canceling classes on all their students who depend so much on attending them.

There’s no excuse for outright canceling classes. Classes can absolutely be held safely, if these universities simply chose to invest in the training, procedures, and equipment necessary to do so.

Instead they chose to bank their tuition payments and setup a Zoom call.

This is not a new policy, student visas have never allowed for online classes, and the universities certainly knew this. I think the blame pretty clearly lies with schools who decided to close up shop.

[PaulDavisThe1st]

> There’s no excuse for outright canceling classes. Classes can absolutely be held safely,

Why do so few people actually charged with making this decision agree with you?

And US college is about a lot more than classes.

[zaroth]

Probably because they didn't consider the downside to their decision. They don't empathize with the students who can't possibly learn the material without a classroom environment, or for those who worked and dreamed of attending that University for years only to be sent the bill without most of the benefit. To say nothing of those students who literally don't have a (safe) place to live lined up besides being on-campus.

The people making the decision are Administrators who get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to cash the tuition checks and did the calculus that they could shut down "for the safety of their students and faculty" and still cash those checks.

> And US college is about a lot more than classes.

Absolutely true. I'd say classes are no more than half of what you're paying for. Harvard and Princeton just announced today that many students will be returning in the fall, but still taking classes online. They want freshman and juniors to return in the fall, and sophomores and seniors to return in the spring.

If the decision was simply based on the actual data, the reality is that the student body is much more at risk from the drugs and alcohol on campus than they are at risk from SARS-CoV-2. More to the point; if you take a holistic view, the social, economic, physical and mental welfare of their student body is massively degraded overall by canceling on-campus housing and classes versus by holding them.

[fzeroracer]

What about the students that can't go to class because they're with family or friends that are at risk? What about the immigrants who came here to get an education that are now being kicked out because of the administration's cruelty? Why are you encouraging something that would exacerbate the spread of the coronavirus and celebrating forcing people to travel back home and potentially spread the virus cross country?

Come on. This is a ridiculous thing to defend.

[PaulDavisThe1st]

So you agree there's a lot more than classes, but think that the claim that classes can be held means that schools should just stay in regular mode.

I don't disagree with you about the cash flow. My disagreement is with ICE telling students they cannot remain here just because schools went online-only.