Legal Question in Consumer Law in Oregon

tuition refund

I withdrew my child from a small private elementary school in late February. The payment contract states: ''Tuition is presumed to be for the entire school year. If the child withdraws from school prior to the end of the school year, the deposit will not be refunded.'' The deposit is 10% of the total. The school won't refund the tuition for the remainder of the year. I thought I would only forfeit the deposit. Does the school have the right to keep all the tuition for the year?


Asked on 3/08/07, 1:01 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Andrew Svitek Svitek Law Group, LLC

Re: tuition refund

I would like to read through the rest of the contract to see if another clause addresses this more directly.

If there is ambiguity then the contract would be construed against the school, and you might win.

Othwerwise it might be possible to interpret this as a liquidated damages clause and see if it is may be invalid as a penalty. However, the school is entitled to protect itself for reasonable costs it has incurred as a result of your breach (for instance it had to hire a certain number of teachers based on the number of students enrolled at the beginning of the year, buy insurance based on number students, rent adequate space, etc.).

We would need more information. The school may also compromise with you if it means than can avoid a legal battle with you.

Read more
Answered on 3/13/07, 3:37 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Consumer Law questions and answers in Oregon