By Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Star
Out-of-state students who paid full tuition at state universities won’t be getting a refund.
In an order released Tuesday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Teresa Sanders threw out a lawsuit filed earlier this year by three students from other states. They claimed that the fact that the universities were at the time letting “dreamers” pay in-state tuition meant they, too — and every other out-of-state student — were entitled to the same discount.
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Sanders said even if that is true — a conclusion she never reached — it does not matter. Sanders said the federal law does not give individuals who believe they were harmed by the failure of the Board of Regents to follow that law the right to file individual lawsuits.
But attorney Lance Entrekin, who represents the students, said his lawsuit is not based on seeking financial recovery under the federal law. He said it is based on the theory that the regents, having violated that federal law, have breached their contract with the out-of-state students, who now are entitled to a refund.
