NY Courts Split on Tuition Refunds After Pandemic Shift to Online Classes

Judges Beth Robinson, Dennis Jacobs and Debra Ann Livingston of the Second Circuit highlighted a divide in how New York contract law is applied to tuition-refund lawsuits after COVID-19 forced universities to shift to remote instruction. In the federal case Rynasko v. NYU, the court accepted a plausible implied agreement for generally in-person education, whereas two recent Appellate Division rulings required plaintiffs to allege a specific promise of exclusively on-campus instruction.

The dispute resurfaced in Becerra-Paez v. Syracuse University, where the plaintiff paid roughly $26,000 for the Spring 2020 term and received no reimbursement after the school transitioned to online-only teaching and limited campus services. The Second Circuit certified the question to the New York Court of Appeals, asking whether a breach claim must allege a specific exclusive-in-person promise or can rely on a broader implied promise.

The certification was later withdrawn after settlement negotiations, leaving the legal question unresolved. The decision could influence future tuition-refund litigation throughout the state.