Preview:

STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS

JASON MOSS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY and WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY BOARD OF GOVERNORS, Defendants-Appellees.

UNPUBLISHED December 1, 2009

No. 286034 Court of Claims LC No. 08-000014-CK

Before: Talbot, P.J., and O'Connell and Davis, JJ. PER CURIAM. Plaintiff appeals as of right from the trial court's order granting summary disposition in favor of defendants. We affirm. This appeal has been decided without oral argument pursuant to MCR 7.214(E). Defendant Wayne State University ("university") faced uncertainty about receiving state funds for the 2007-2008 academic year and decided to increase tuition by 12.8% and add a percredit hour contingency fee. The contingency fee was eliminated for the winter semester of 2008, following the state's repayment of the deferred payment for 2007. The fees collected in the fall of 2007 were apparently used to pay off a foundation loan, to add to a rainy-day fund, and for improvement of classrooms and technology, research and clinical trials, and student retention programs. Plaintiff, as a representative of a class of students at the university, filed the instant lawsuit challenging the retention of the contingency fees collected in the fall 2007 semester despite the university's receipt of state funds. The Court of Claims dismissed this case under MCR 2.116(C)(4) for lack of jurisdiction. The court reasoned that the Michigan Constitution does not permit interference with the management and control of a constitutionally created university unless an expenditure of its nonstate appropriated funds violates the constitution or public policy. See Const 1963, art 8,

Download JASON MOSS V WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY.pdf

Michigan Law