Empty Dorm Rooms Spawn Dozens of Suits That Will Be Tough to Win

Dorm rooms in campuses across the U.S. sat empty this spring as states began lockdowns in attempts to halt the spread of the coronavirus. As students moved to online learning from their homes, they wondered what would happen to the money they paid for those empty dorm rooms.

Then sprang dozens of lawsuits on behalf of students who hadn’t received a refund for the room and board fees—and sometimes tuition—they’d paid to colleges such as the University of Arizona, Michigan State, Purdue, Columbia, Vanderbilt, Brown, Cornell, Pace, Drexel, and public university systems in California and Florida.

It’s early in the ...