Students Demand Chico State Reopen Campus or 'Lower Our Tuition'

Students at Chico State in California are demanding that the school either reopen its campus or lower their tuition, as many students have not been allowed to return to their regular, in-person classes.

Chico State students are dismayed over the school’s decision to only offer 20 to 30 percent of in-person classes this semester, according to a petition titled, “Reopen Chico State or Lower Our Tuition.”

The petition demands to know “who is it that decides what 20-30% of students have the right to In-person classes while the rest of the student body sits back and watches their money go down the drain.”

“The online education that I have experienced during the past academic year pales in comparison to the in-person learning that we received before,” the petition reads. “I think that I can speak for the majority of the student body when I say that I feel behind in almost every aspect of my education because of online learning.”

The petition adds that “16,000 students continued to pay full tuition of over $7,000 a semester for online learning” throughout Chico State’s last academic year.

“And for many months we were without access to many resources that are supposed to be included in tuition such as the WREC (Wildcat Recreation Center) and access to campus resources such as the library,” the petition adds.

The petition, which had already garnered more than 4,500 signatures, goes on to lament the housing situation on campus, stating, “many of us students in the past two months have signed leases for the Fall 2021 semester here in Chico, only for the University to go back on their statement that they were planning for the return of in-person classes.”

“Because of the closure of campus, many jobs have become unavailable to students who depended on them,” the petition added. “Every day I drive past Notre Dame Elementary school, just a mere 4 blocks from the Chico State Campus and see hundreds of kids playing In the school yard.”

“Why is it that they can go to school and their tiny administration can figure out a way to continue in-person learning but our California State Institution cannot?” the petition inquired.

Last year, at least five universities and university systems faced class-action lawsuits among students demanding tuition and fee refunds due to changes that were made as a result of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

Chico State University did not immediately respond to Breitbart News’ request for comment.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.