UPDATE: After writing this article, making related posts on social media, and inquiring directly to the Dean of Admissions at Mitchell Hamline, I heard back from them with the following.
"[N]o student will be precluded from participating in our blended learning program next school year because of COVID-19. If we decide to hold one or more on-campus weeks in person, and a student cannot participate in person for medical reasons, we will accommodate that student as long as we receive verifiable medical documentation."
While this wasn't apparent in any of the emails I read from the applicant (and he also indicated that this was new information), it's certainly welcome information - kudos to Mitchell Hamline for its commitment to accommodating affected students.
Still no word from Hofstra, though. Will update as I hear more.
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I've gotten reports from a law school applicant that Mitchell Hamline and Hofstra may keep deposits from students who won't be able to attend in person due to COVID-19 health concerns (pre-existing medical conditions that put the applicant at risk).
Deposits are typically non-refundable.
But given COVID-19, if an applicant has a health issue that prevents attending in-person, and online classes aren't available, that should warrant some flexibility, at least in my opinion.
In fact, it could be considered an ADA violation if the school does not provide a suitable online option for those who can't attend in-person due to health issues.
The law school situation has a unique twist - the ABA currently limits the number of credits that can be online (Standard 306), although there are proposed revisions to account for distance education.
It's not surprising to me that schools would want to keep deposits - if applicants previously committed can withdraw without penalty simply by providing a doctors' note, I suspect many would do so - especially if the school is online in the fall (yet tuitions will not be any lower). As you can imagine, this would be an enrollment disaster for schools.
Of course, a deposit may not be significant relative to tuition, but if some students learned others were easily bowing out, others might follow suit.
(There would be many borderline cases of medical withdrawals mixed in with the legitimate ones, as doctor's notes are fairly easy to get.)
Taking law school 1L classes online is probably not the experience they're looking for. If they want the in-person on-campus experience, there are no guarantees of what awaits in the fall. Why should a student pay the same price for an online experience as an on-campus one?
I've written a short related article: Starting Law School This Year vs Next ----->
(And if you're having difficulty getting a deposit back from a school, please contact me and I will do everything I can to help.)
In contrast to Mitchell Hamline and Hofstra, Case Western and FIU appear to be handling it differently (and much better!)
The below are all from emails forwarded to me by an applicant accepted at these schools.
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Email from the Dean of Admissions at Mitchell Hamline:
"[W]e do not refund deposits. Every student who has deposited has done so with the same amount of risk because none of us know what the situation will be in the fall. If we refunded yours we’d have to refund everyone’s."
Another email from the Dean of Admissions at Mitchell Hamline:
"We have not made any decisions about the fall semester and so I cannot tell you whether or not we would allow you to attend remotely. I do not know if such an option will be available or not. As soon as we have more information, we will let all students know."
Email from the Senior Director of Enrollment at Hofstra:
"I will make mention of your deposit concern based on the pandemic, but please note that deposit refund-ability is a policy that is not decided on a case by case basis."
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In contrast, see these emails from Case Western and FIU:
Email from the Director of Admissions & Diversity Initiatives at Case Western:
"In the event that you are unable to attend classes in person or remotely we would refund your deposit."
Email from the Director of Admissions at FIU Law:
"If that were to be the case, we would refund your deposit."
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