Pennsylvania College of Technology agreed to a $1.85 million class action settlement tied to the abrupt shift from in-person instruction to remote learning in March 2020, when COVID-19 forced campuses nationwide to close or restrict access. The settlement covers roughly 3,800 undergraduate and graduate students who were enrolled in at least one on-campus class in Spring 2020, didn’t withdraw by March 18, 2020, and paid tuition or fees out of pocket (not fully covered by scholarships, grants, or remission). After deductions for attorneys’ fees (capped at about $616,666.66), costs, administration, and a possible service award, the remaining funds are expected to be distributed evenly, with payments issued automatically unless students choose a digital option or need to update their address. The lawsuit was filed because students alleged that when the college moved classes online, they did not receive partial refunds for tuition and campus-based fees tied to facilities, services, and the on-campus educational experience they believed they had paid for. Penn College denied wrongdoing, but the settlement is significant because it reflects how “educational value” disputes can become legal claims framed around contract principles (what students were promised in catalogs, enrollment materials, and fee descriptions) rather than broad dissatisfaction with remote learning. The case also underscores how class actions can efficiently address many small-to-moderate claims at once, while giving schools a way to cap risk and avoid years of litigation, with a fairness hearing set for Dec. 12, 2025 and payments expected about 60 days after final approval and any appeals. Broader implications extend beyond Penn College: similar pandemic-era suits were filed across the U.S. against public and private universities, with mixed results depending on how clearly schools described fees and whether plaintiffs could tie payments to specific, unusable services (e.g., labs, recreation, student activities, transit, or health facilities). The higher-education industry operates in a consumer-like environment but under a patchwork of oversight—state consumer protection laws, contract law, accreditor expectations, and federal Title IV rules that govern refunds primarily when students withdraw—leaving “campus closure” refund questions to be fought largely in courts and settlements like this one rather than resolved by a single, uniform regulation.