In light of COVID-19 global pandemic, the state of Washington has declared state of emergency. Per state laws, the University of Washington administration has wisely decided to offer all classes and instruction remotely throughout spring quarter. While this is a smart, logical decision in consideration of the health of all students and faculty, this mode of online education is not what we pay for. For the following reasons, we are seeking a partial refund of tuition for the spring 2020 quarter:

Despite the "high-quality method of instruction" that UW is striving to establish for the quarter, the student body will no longer have access to resources that are required to graduate/ fulfill certain hours for a specific programs/ internships, including but not limited to: labs, facilities, equipment, valuable face to face guidance, and professional physical critique and advising from faculty. We believe that these are essential factors of the university learning experience, and therefore, in their absence we are seeking a partial monetary refund for the spring 2020 quarter. We believe that these are valuable hundreds of hours we are missing out on being at the school physically, though we do understand that it is a critical time to uphold social-distancing and self-quarantine to ensure safety of both vulnerable and general populations. It is entirely impossible for the students to receive the fullness of the educational experience we are paying for, not to mention the immense amount of tuition for the out-of-state students. Many students are experiencing great financial suffering due to numerous job closures throughout the state, and a number of students is front-line healthcare workers wh o are at risk for exposure and serious health-related consequences. Thus we believe that a partial refund of tuition and reduced billing on tuition collection would greatly assist in alleviating the financial stress and uncertainty of the situation. Therefore, we respectfully implore the administration to rightfully grant us monetary return compensation.

UW has created a page with answers to many key questions about spring quarter. However, the only financial concerns that the page addresses are as follows: "there will be no change in financial aid for full-time students enrolled in spring quarter."

(https://www.washington.edu/provost/springquarter/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTjJSak9HTXlNMlZpWXpKaSIsInQiOiJDa1ZMUThrVEtEaHVJRHV3OUI4YitsWFRIeDBvaTVrT2djZHNjeHZiMVdSRTZrNEl5V2FFTDVpTCtmRU5HbDZKSmtmV29nZ25oTE9GWG5tNmIxdDNJbUpKQnpKT3ZsUENzN2VYK3NDNURUK2dsdnNZWEFudTJzWUE5TitqNW1EeSJ9)