'Clear as mud' housing refund plans irk college students

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — When Laura Comino opened the housing email from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in June, she knew she had to take action.

At the direction of the state’s public university system, UNCG asked her to sign a housing contract addendum acknowledging that she might not get a refund if the school kicks her out of her dorm in the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.

An online petition Comino circulated days later collected nearly 40,000 signatures from people demanding that all 16 UNC System colleges offer prorated refunds and return deposits if the virus closes dorms.

“People got so incredibly upset thinking this would affect all of us, and there’s a possibility where it still might,” Comino said.

With classes scheduled to begin in August, the possibility of no refunds has left students and administrators alike with questions. Comino and the dean of her school, Andrew Hamilton, both called the policy “clear as mud.”

Like Comino, students across the country are facing uncertainty about whether they’ll get housing refunds if they’re displaced from campus by the pandemic. And they are pushing back against policies they view as prioritizing university revenue over their financial well-being.

The University of South Florida and the University of Maryland have said they would not be obligated to refund students if COVID-19 prompts them to close residence halls. Washington State University issued a similar policy, but then reversed it. And Stanford University students have complained about having to move abruptly to make room for a quarantine area.

The flagship UNC campus at Chapel Hill plans to offer refunds or credits if students are kicked out of their units, creating concerns about unequal treatment at different...