When Mo Kashmiri graduated from the UC Berkeley Boalt Hall
School of Law in 2004, he left with $130,000 of debt. But as a
result of a ruling in his favor Monday, Kashmiri will likely see a
few thousand taken off that amount.
The San Francisco Superior Court ordered the University of
California to pay students more than $33.8 million for breaching
contracts with students when it raised fees over the past three
years.
UC Spokesman Ricardo Vasquez said the UC does not consider the
case closed and plans to appeal the decision.
The suit was filed in 2004 by Kashmiri and seven other graduate
students on behalf of more than 50,000 students from four UC
campuses, including UC Berkeley and UCLA.
“This is a great victory for students everywhere,”
Andrew D. Freeman, a council for the plaintiffs, said in a
statement.
The plaintiffs alleged the university violated contracts signed
by 9,000 professional school students which guaranteed their degree
fees would not be increased while they were enrolled in school.
The ruling also provides reimbursement for more than 47,000
students who enrolled in the spring and summer of 2003. These
students say they were charged higher fees than they had initially
been told without adequate notice.
“I’m thrilled,” Kashmiri said. “This
case signals that the university can’t balance their budget
on the backs of students and their families.”
Vazquez said the UC appreciates the time the court put into the
case, but disagrees with its ruling.
“The university believes there was no contract that fixed
the amount of fees students had to pay, and that students were
repeatedly notified that published levels of fees were subject to
change without notice,” he said.
Vazquez said the university does not consider the item in
question ““ which the court ruled was a contract ““ to be
a binding agreement. The suit does not prevent the university from
raising student fees after giving adequate notification nor offer
immediate reimbursement, but the plaintiffs “hope the
university learns a lesson from the lawsuit ““ that it needs
to comply with the promises it makes to students,” said
Jonathan Weissglass, a council for the plaintiffs.
“It doesn’t mean much yet,” said Kashmiri, who
is struggling to pay off his loans. “It’ll be another
two to three years until I see a cent, even though I could really
use it now.”
Kashmiri expects that when he does receive the reimbursement, it
will amount to $3,000 to $6,000.
Monday’s decision came as no surprise to either the UC or
the plaintiffs.
On Feb. 6, Judge James Warren of the San Francisco Superior
Court, who presided over the case, indicated he would grant summary
judgment in favor of the plaintiff.
“In light of the trial court’s earlier rulings,
(the) decision was anticipated,” Vazquez said.
The ruling follows a preliminary injunction issued by Warren in
August 2005 that stopped the UC from implementing a $15 million fee
increase for students in professional schools for the 2004-2005
year above the amount students were charged for 2003-2004.
Vazquez said the preliminary injunction will probably continue
to apply to the 1,100 students still enrolled in professional
schools for the duration of the appeals process.
In the past four years, the UC Regents increased fees for
professional students to more than double what they paid in the
2002-2003 year. The increase was part of a broader trend of fee
hikes beginning that have affected all students enrolled in the
university.
Vazquez said the various fee increases, including a 50 percent
increase from the 2002-2003 an 2003-2004 school years for students
in several professional schools were justified by the state-wide
budget crisis.
“These were very difficult times due to budget cuts, and
regents increased fees reluctantly,” Vazquez said.