Syracuse University says it has no plans to refund thousands of dollars in fees to students who had to cut short their semester abroad because of the coronavirus pandemic.
About 300 students in SU’s London program will lose about $8,000 each in housing and related fees, even though they were evacuated in mid-March about halfway through the semester.
Likewise, some 165 SU students evacuated from Madrid will lose most of the fees they paid for housing, according to university officials.
Separately, SU offered pro-rated refunds of room and board fees to students living on the Syracuse campus when the coronavirus pandemic forced the university to switch to online classes on March 23.
But students who were studying in London and Madrid were stuck with the bill because SU couldn’t negotiate refunds with the owners of leased housing in those cities.
Erika Wilkens, an assistant provost and executive director of Syracuse Abroad, said in a statement that SU was tied to contracts in those cities for privately-owned apartment buildings.
“It is important to note the main campus room and board refunds were for housing/meal services that the university controls,” Wilkens said. “The university does not own or control any of the housing/meal providers overseas.”
Wilkens said the amount of money SU was able to refund to students in overseas program varied by city. SU’s 351 students in Florence, Italy received some housing refunds, while those in London and Madrid received no money back for their unused housing.
“Our contracts with individual home-stay families were often more flexible, allowing for a greater refund,” Wilkens said. “We were unfortunately unable to get any funds back from apartments/residences in London and Madrid.”
SU declined to provide a breakdown of the refunds it provided for students studying in each city. The amount can vary based on how much financial aid a student received. One parent said he received a $265 refund on $8,000 in fees for the London program.
In Madrid, the fees ranged from $7,650 per student for those staying in homes to $9,650 for students in residence halls.
“The fees, and the resulting refunds, vary by location as fact and circumstances of housing vary greatly by location, as well as the timing of when various programs were suspended due to the pandemic.” Wilkens said in her statement.
SU also provided financial support to overseas students to pay for airfare for their evacuation flights home as the pandemic spread across Europe.
Students received refunds April 22 along with a note from the university explaining why large portions of the all-inclusive fee could not be returned.
All told, SU said last month it has lost about $35 million in revenue and fees since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The university said it would cut salaries of its top administrators and coaches by 10%, freeze pay for faculty and staff and halt hiring for positions that are not considered “mission critical” in the months ahead.
Chancellor Kent Syverud said SU also will cut its costs by 5% across the board.
Last month, SU received about $9.9 million in emergency coronavirus relief aid from the federal government. About half of the money must be granted to students as emergency financial aid.
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