Opinion ID: 6321084
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Tuition

Text: Accepting the complaints’ factual allegations as true and drawing all reasonable inferences from those allegations in Plaintiffs’ favor, we conclude that Plaintiffs adequately allege the Universities breached an implied-in-fact contract to provide in-person education in exchange for tuition. At this early stage of the litigation, Plaintiffs need only allege “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). Plaintiffs’ tuition claims clear this hurdle. Notably, both Universities’ communications contain numerous references to the benefits of their on-campus 13 instruction. For example, GW’s Bulletin highlights “oncampus presentations by leading practitioners,” “on-campus group supervision” for practicums and clinicals, “hands-on training” in workshops, and “hands-on laboratory experience using laboratory facilities.” Shaffer Compl. ¶ 47, J.A. 27-28 (alterations, omission, and citations omitted). American’s website states that the University has “a focus on experiential learning” and describes the campus as giving students “the advantages of a traditional college setting,” which presumably encompasses in-person learning. Qureshi Compl. ¶¶ 83, 87, App. 16-17. The Universities’ alleged pricing of online education provides additional support for the inference that the Universities promised in-person education in exchange for Plaintiffs’ tuition payments. For example, “during the 20192020 academic year, for graduate students in GW’s School of Engineering & Applied Science, [GW] assessed $1,965 per credit in tuition for on-campus students, and only $975 per credit for students in the ‘M.S. (online)’ program.” Shaffer Compl. ¶ 43, J.A. 26. For the spring 2020 semester, “students enrolled in GW’s Health Sciences [undergraduate] programs— which are only offered online—were charged $615 per credit in tuition, or $11,070 for an 18-credit semester,” while “their colleagues in GW’s on-campus undergraduate programs paid between $25,875 and $29,275 in tuition.” Id.; see also Qureshi Compl. ¶ 116, App. 21 (alleging that American’s Online Learning programs are “listed independently on a separate web page, where separate policies and cost information depend[] on the individual online program”). We also draw the reasonable inference from Plaintiffs’ factual allegations that the Universities have a historic practice of providing on-campus instruction to students who pay the 14 tuition associated with traditional on-campus – rather than online – education. Drawing all reasonable inferences from these factual allegations in Plaintiffs’ favor and “[v]iewing the pertinent language as a whole,” we “conclude that a reasonable person would have assumed that the Universit[ies] intended to bind” themselves to providing in-person education in exchange for retaining Plaintiffs’ entire tuition payments for traditional oncampus degree programs. See Basch, 370 A.2d at 1367; Ninivaggi v. Univ. of Del., Nos. 20-cv-1478, 20-cv-1693, 2021 WL 3709765, at  (D. Del. Aug. 20, 2021) (Bibas, J., sitting by designation) (“This history, custom, and course of dealing, along with the school’s statements, plausibly created an implied promise of in-person classes.”). Plaintiffs also plausibly allege the Universities breached this duty, and that Plaintiffs suffered harm as a result. Accordingly, they state claims for breach of contract. In opposition to the Plaintiffs’ complaints, the Universities argue the “reservation of rights” provisions in their publications undermine the plausibility of Plaintiffs’ contract claims. The applicable provision in American’s catalog states that the University “reserves the right to amend the policies and information contained in the University Catalog from time to time, with or without notice.” Qureshi, 537 F. Supp. 3d at 16. The reservation of rights in GW’s Bulletin states: “The University reserves the right to change courses, programs, fees, and the academic calendar, or to make other changes deemed necessary or desirable, giving advance notice of change when possible.” Shaffer J.A. 54. GW makes similar statements elsewhere in its materials. See Shaffer J.A. 90, 1918. But the reservation language does not specifically address emergencies or other force majeure events. In particular, it says nothing about allocating the financial risk of those events to the 15 students, as the Universities contend. Taking as true the Plaintiffs’ allegations as to the course of conduct between them and the Universities, we cannot agree with Defendants that this language must as a matter of law be viewed by a reasonable person as allocating the entire financial consequences of the pandemic change to online classes to the students. Indeed, the Universities cite nothing in their historical courses of dealings with their students to suggest that they have retained unfettered rights to shut down on-campus educational activities and use online learning in its place after students have paid tuition for traditional on-campus courses. As discussed, Plaintiffs plausibly allege that in-person education, along with on-campus educational activities, are the norm at both schools. Defendants also argue that even if Plaintiffs’ have plausibly alleged that the Universities made enforceable promises to provide in-person education, the contract claims nonetheless fail because Plaintiffs fail to allege cognizable damages. Here, the Universities stress that District of Columbia law prohibits courts from reviewing claims that test the quality or value of the education students receive. See Allworth v. Howard Univ., 890 A.2d 194, 202 (D.C. 2006) (“[C]oncepts of academic freedom and academic judgment are so important that courts generally give deference to the discretion exercised by university officials.”). The Universities’ claims on this point ring hollow. At bottom, Plaintiffs challenge Defendants’ failure to deliver the in-person instruction they allegedly promised to provide and for which the students had already paid. Determining whether the Universities in fact breached such promises does not require this court to subjectively value the quality of Plaintiffs’ education. And Defendants’ argument to the contrary overlooks the fact that the Universities themselves apparently charge different rates for online and inperson instruction. 16 For the foregoing reasons, we hold that Plaintiffs plausibly allege that the Universities breached implied-in-fact contracts to provide in-person instruction in exchange for tuition for oncampus degree programs. It is for the District Courts to resolve in the first instance whether the parties contracted for in-person education as alleged. If the District Courts conclude that the Universities made such promises – and that the legality of providing in-person instruction was a basic assumption on which the contracts were made – the Universities may still have strong arguments that the pandemic and resulting governmentissued shutdown orders discharged their duties to perform. See Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 261 (“Where, after a contract is made, a party’s performance is made impracticable without his fault by the occurrence of an event the nonoccurrence of which was a basic assumption on which the contract was made, his duty to render that performance is discharged, unless the language or the circumstances indicate the contrary.”); id. § 264 (“If the performance of a duty is made impracticable by having to comply with a domestic or foreign governmental regulation or order, that regulation or order is an event the non-occurrence of which was a basic assumption on which the contract was made.”); Island Dev. Corp. v. District of Columbia, 933 A.2d 340, 350 (D.C. 2007) (discussing the elements of impossibility). The Universities did not raise this defense before this court, and we do not reach it today. Accordingly, we reverse the District Courts’ dismissals of Plaintiffs’ implied-in-fact contract claims as they relate to tuition.