The Västmanland District Court ruled in favor of of an American woman who sued a Swedish university for the tuition she had paid because the quality of the program she was attending was so poor.
A statement on the Mälardalen District Court's website said the Mälardalen University was ordered to pay back SEK 170,182 plus interest to Connie Askenbäck (nee Dickinson), the tuition fees she had paid from 2011 to 2013 while she attended a program in Analytical Finance.
"There is no particular law or legal precedent that applies to the relationship between students and universities," reasoned the court in its press statement.
The court further reasoned that a contract was established between Connie and Mälardalen University. It noted that the National Higher Education Authority had found the program deficient on four of five degree goals.
"Because of these deficiencies, the court deems that the university broke contract with Connie Askenbäck because her education had no value," stated the court.
Dickinson had previusly told Radio Sweden that in 2011 she decided to use money she had earned bartending in California to apply for a program in analytical finance at the Mälardalen University in central Sweden.
She began her coursework that fall, but said she noticed problems right away. Before beginning her third year in 2013, the school emailed students in Connie's program saying that the National Higher Education Authority had found major problems with the program. Connie decided to drop out and ask for her money back.
She wrote the university demanding a full refund of the money she had paid in, about 110,000 kronor per year. The school refused. But because there is unclarity about the rights of foreign students who pay tuition in Sweden, Connie's only recourse was the public court system.
culled -sverigesradio.se
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