Coronavirus Fallout: With College Dorms Emptied, Will Families Get Room Refunds?

CHICAGO (CBS) -- This week, college students all over began moving out of dorms. Many left for spring break - only to find out they can't come back to campus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

CBS 2 investigator Dorothy Tucker takes a look at the impact of moving lessons out of the classroom and onto the Internet.

"I had to move out completely yesterday, which is really sad," said Northern Illinois University freshman Madeline Hoeppner.

"I was pretty upset," added Karli Waldrep, also a freshman.

Madeline and Karli never thought their time on campus would be cut short by a viral pandemic - right after spring break.

"I was excited to come back in April when they originally said it would be reopened and I'd be able to see all my friends again and resume normal college life," Waldrep said.

But, NIU decided, like many other colleges, to continue only with online classes, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. That means most students are now packing up their belongings and moving back home. Madeline worries about some of her classes moving online.

"As a biology major, we have labs and stuff, so it's really hard to do labs," Hoeppner said. "It's not really worth it."

Another concern: Madeline and Karli both live in the most expensive dorm. Room and board for one semester there approaches $7,000. But, they won't be able to live there for the next two months. That's half the semester or about $3,500 that could go down the drain.

"Hopefully we'll get some refund," said Karli's father, Lee Waldrep.

That's top of mind for dad, who's footing the bill for three tuitions.

"I'm the proud father of triplet daughters," he said. "All started college last fall."

One of Karli's sisters attends Miami University in Ohio.

"Miami University was one of the earliest to decide to go online for the remainder of the semester and so they have announced there will be a refund," Lee Waldrep said.

But, NIU? "We haven't heard anything," he said.

NIU is one of the 10 largest public and private universities in Illinois with on campus housing. They must all deal with the question of reimbursing parents for room and board. Rates average $5,000 per semester or quarter.

When DePaul announced all of its Spring quarter classes would be held online, it offered full refunds for housing, meal plan and insurance charges.

While NIU decides, students and parents remain optimistic.

"We're all facing this issue, crisis, challenge together," Waldrep said.

NIU told CBS 2 it hopes to make a refund decision by next week.