California medical students to get court-ordered tuition refunds

Finding an available fiscal source for the paybacks will likely be difficult for the state's university system now that it has lost its final appeal.

By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. March 17, 2008.

Thousands of students enrolled in the University of California system in 2003, including about 2,500 in medical school, will be getting refunds totaling about $40 million.

The Supreme Court of California upheld a lower court decision requiring the UC system to refund tuition increases made during 2003.

Janet Lee, MD, one of eight students who led the class-action suit, was pleased with the January ruling. She doesn't know how much her portion will be but intends to use it to help pay off her medical school debt.

"It's very exciting news," said Dr. Lee, who graduated in 2005 and now is a third-year neurosurgical resident at University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City. "It's been a very, very long process."

The case has its roots early in this decade, when state revenue shortfalls triggered steep budget cuts, including education. In 2003, the UC system, which includes five medical schools, raised tuition.

Students in professional degree programs saw increases of $400 to $1,700 per semester. One tuition hike was retroactive, with students receiving a second bill for the 2003 spring semester after many had paid their original bill in full.

The tuition hike affected about 9,000 professional-degree graduate students, including medical students, and more than 30,000 undergraduates.