LOS ANGELES (KNX) — A surge of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 led to the University of California, Los Angeles opting to move students to remote learning for the first three weeks of the winter quarter. Now, some 2,000 students are calling on UCLA to refund part of their tuition and fees.
“As students grapple with the fact that a significant proportion of their college education will be conducted online, despite no change in its cost, the flexibility and understanding Bruins gave their school is coming to an end,” students wrote in the “Refund Bruins” campaign on Change.org.
The petition, which has more than 2,377 signatures, began after the second time that school administrators pushed back students’ in-person winter quarter return.
Organizers said the end date of online classes was originally set for Jan. 18 but was pushed to Jan. 28 after the winter holidays. They said they worry that the remote learning extensions will only continue — resulting in a fully remote quarter.
Students said they organized the petition to stand up for the fact that online learning is not comparable to in-person learning, and should cost less as a result.
“Online school is not comparable to the value of an in-person education,” organizers wrote.
“The demand of the Bruin student body is simple: let us pay for only what we have been given. The school must refund students for these weeks of online school.”
The petition needs another 823 signatures to equal 10% of the student body in order to become a USAC referendum, according to the Daily Bruin, the university’s student newspaper.
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