Natalie Hoernschemeyer and Christi Flaherty recently defeated a class action lawsuit against Moberly Area Community College. The College was among several Missouri colleges sued by their students, inter alia, the Missouri Returning Heroes Act (a statute that caps the tuition for veterans returning from combat at $50.00 per credit hour). The students alleged that the colleges were misapplying their financial aide under the Act, the Court disagreed.
In a case of first impression, Mickes Goldman O’Toole education law attorneys and other co-defendants’ counsel sought dismissal of the suit, based on the fact that the student who attended the College never paid more than $50.00 per credit hour. The College also argued that the suit was improper because the statute specifically stated that all other financial aide was to be applied to the tuition before the Heroes Act cap, and thus was not intended to limit the amount of tuition the College could collect from other sources.
On July 5, 2011, St. Louis County Judge Ellen Siwak heard arguments from the parties on the motion to dismiss, and on December 5, 2011, she granted the colleges’ motion, and dismissed the case.
