The University of California has been ordered by a California court to pay a $34 million judgment to former students, including me, whom the UC wronged when it unconscionably raised tuition in the middle of my first year of law school, and then again for each year thereafter.
Aggrieved students filed a class action lawsuit against the University, which the University lost in March 2006. Including the interest that accrued while the UC appealed, the judgment is now worth at least $40 million. This is a court-ordered judgment: the award is likely to be significantly more substantial than the free CD and a handshake that consumers typically get from a class action settlement.
According to the class action administrator, the plaintiffs consist of three subclasses:
- Current and former University of California ("UC") students who enrolled in a UC professional degree program prior to December 16, 2002, and whose professional degree fees were raised after that date.
- Students who attended any UC school on a semester system during the Spring 2003 semester, whose fees for that semester increased after they had already enrolled in classes and received bills for the semester.
- Students who attended the Summer 2003 session at UC Berkeley or UCLA, whose fees for that summer session increased after they had already enrolled and received bills for the session.
If you qualify as a member of the class, notify the administrator immediately. They need current e-mail and postal addresses for all class members so that they can send you additional notices and, eventually, a check if you are entitled to one. If you have changed your name, please provide both names. Please provide any updated contact information as soon as you can and if possible by April 21, 2008, by sending an e-mail to ucfees@rustconsulting.com or mailing the information to Kashmiri v. Regents Class Action, P.O. Box 1931, Faribault MN 55021-7186.
The case is Kashmiri v. Regents of the University of California. A separate case, Luquetta v. Regents of the University of California, involves other potential breach of contract claims for the 2003-2004 school year.