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SUNY Tuition Refund Class Action Settlement
By Kimberly Mirando
The State University of New York has reached a class action lawsuit settlement with certain students who paid non-resident tuition at SUNY schools. If you received a high school diploma or GED in New York State and paid out-of-state tuition at a SUNY school between 2007 and 2011, you may qualify to receive a refund through the class action settlement.
The SUNY tuition settlement will resolve a class action lawsuit (Sara Strum, et al. v. The State University of New York, et al.) filed by two students who were residents of New Jersey and paid the non-resident tuition rate when they attended Binghamton University, a SUNY school. The students argue, however, that they should have been charged the resident tuition rate (also called the “in-state” rate) because they met certain requirements under the law for students who graduated from New York high schools.
SUNY denies it violated the law, but has agreed to refund tuition paid by certain students as part of a class action lawsuit settlement to resolve the litigation.
Class Members of the SUNY tuition class action settlement include anyone who meets the following criteria:
1. You attended one of the eligible SUNY schools below for any period of time during the Fall 2007 term, Spring 2011 term and any time in 2008, 2009 and 2010; AND
2. You or your parents paid the non-resident tuition rate; AND
3. You were not a resident of New York State at that time; AND EITHER
4. You attended a New York high school for two or more years and applied for attendance at SUNY within five years of graduating from a New York high school -or- you attended a New York state GED program and applied for attendance at SUNY within five years of receiving your GED.
Eligible SUNY schools covered by the class action lawsuit settlement are:
Binghamton University
College of Environmental Science and Forestry
College of Optometry
Downstate Medical Center
Stony Brook University
University at Albany
University at Buffalo
Upstate Medical University
Buffalo State College
Empire State College
Purchase College
State University of New York at Geneseo
State University of New York at New Paltz
State University of New York at Oswego
State University of New York at Potsdam
SUNY College at Oneonta
SUNY Cortland
SUNY Fredonia
SUNY Plattsburgh
The College at Brockport
The College at Old Westbury
Alfred State College
Farmingdale State College
Maritime College
Morrisville State College
SUNY Canton
SUNY Cobleskill
SUNY Delhi
SUNY Institute of Technology
* The SUNY Community Colleges, Cornell University and Alfred University are NOT part of this settlement.
Class Members that submit a valid Claim Form by the deadline of September 4, 2013 will be eligible to receive a refund of the tuition they paid. The exact amount of this refund will depend on several factors and you may not be eligible for a refund, such as if you paid for tuition using scholarship or grant money.
Claim Forms and more information on your rights in the SUNY Tuition Class Action Lawsuit Settlement can be found at www.albany.edu/tuition-refund. Detailed claims filing instructions can be found in our Open Class Action Lawsuits section.
Updated April 22nd, 2013
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
