Three college students who led a lawsuit against Harvard University are finding themselves on the side of defeat after the university won a dismissal of the lawsuit earlier this week.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani dismissed the lawsuit after explaining that the lawsuit and its allegations failed to prove that Harvard had promised them the benefits of in-person instruction and the amenities that come with being on campus after classes were moved online due to COVID-19 during the 2020 semester.

Law student Abraham Barkhordar, master’s degree in education candidate Ella Wechsler-Matthaei, and master's degree candidate in public health Sarah Zelasky filed the lawsuit on behalf of Harvard's 12 degree-granting schools. Their lawsuit was one of many brought on by students across the nation against high-cost universities and their decision to charge full tuition despite having in-person amenities off-limits because of the pandemic.

Photo Source: Abraham Barkhordar (Terri Shih/ABC News) In Barkhordar’s lawsuit, the three students allege that they should have received partial refunds on their tuition because after classes had shifted online, students did not have the same experience as in-person instruction and were therefore due a partial refund on their tuition. Their 2020 lawsuit explained, “The online learning option Harvard offered following the termination of its in-person services is subpar in practically every aspect: lack of facilities, lack of materials, lack of efficient classroom participation, and lack of access to faculty. Moreover, students have been deprived of the opportunity for collaborative learning and in-person dialogue, feedback, and critique. The remote learning option is in no way equivalent to the in-person education.”

As part of Judge Talwani’s explanation, Barkhordar's claim that they deserved a partial refund for the 2020 semester was dismissed because Barkhordar had already agreed to pay full tuition for that semester. Barkhordar pushed back stating that the university had given him a “coercive choice” because he had to choose between delaying his education and taking classes remotely. Judge Talwani ruled otherwise explaining that Barkhordar enrolled in classes while the pandemic was ongoing and that he "accepted the terms of the contract for the Fall 2020 semester, including the terms that instruction would be online only and that costs would be the same as the 2019-2020 school year; he has no reasonable expectation otherwise."

In her 19-page opinion, Judge Talwani expressed that "spring 2020 was not a normal time," and that "The amended complaint fails to plausibly allege facts suggesting that Harvard would reasonably expect students to understand from such material that Harvard had promised to provide in-person instruction, even where, during a global pandemic, the governor and public health officials dictated otherwise."

This ruling comes roughly one month after a similar ruling in which Northwestern students sued the university in light of tuition reimbursement because of the pandemic.