New Jersey college students hoping to get a refund for their pandemic-forced remote learning received a blow from the courts. A state appellate panel last week dismissed lawsuits brought by students from Kean University and Montclair State University seeking tuition refunds after their classes shifted to online-only during spring 2020. They argued the virtual classes deprived them of the education they paid for, and in some cases, the technology or equipment they needed. But the judges sided with the public universities, ruling the schools were immune to any liability because they were acting through an emergency health act ordered by the governor.
Judges dismiss lawsuits seeking tuition refunds for COVID-19 remote learning
Judges ruled schools were immune to liability because they were acting through an emergency health act
Anchor
An Emmy award-winning journalist, Briana Vannozzi serves as the anchor for NJ Spotlight News, the newsroom of NJ PBS. She's worked in several capacities since joining the news division in 2012, as interim anchor and senior correspondent after years of general assignment reporting as a multimedia journalist. Vannozzi began her television journalism career by cutting her teeth on New Jersey State House politics for New Jersey Network News, and later as a news radio correspondent at FM News 101.9 covering crime and politics in New York City. Her work has taken her to national presidential nominating conventions, Capitol Hill, up and down the East Coast and every corner of the Garden State. She's interviewed every New Jersey governor dating back to Jon Corzine and moderated numerous political debates and forums. Her work has also earned awards from the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists and the Philadelphia Press Association. A Burlington County native, she's honored to be serving and covering her home state and raising her family there.