The BUSKLAW January Newsletter: Pandemic and the Promise of an In-Person Education: "We're Payin' for this Stuff!"
A recent decision out of the U.S. District Court (Judge David Hurd) for the Northern District of New York, Ford, et al v. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , examines the consequences of an educational institution's pandemic-induced failure to honor its promises for in-person, campus-centered instruction. Plaintiffs are students of Rensselaer Polytechnic of Troy, NY ("RPI"). RPI markets itself as providing a unique educational experience through intense campus-based instruction, mandating that all first and second-year students live on campus and even spend the summer between their second and third years on campus "to afford more meaningful interaction with RPI's professors." When the Covid pandemic caused RPI to replace on-campus instruction with on-line learning and shut down all campus activities, Plaintiffs sued RPI for damages resulting from the alleged lesser value of their remote education. RPI asked the Court to dismiss their claims. The resulting