Lambton College will not be offering partial tuition and fee refunds for the winter semester.
As of Tuesday afternoon, a petition launched last week by nursing student Mary Furlan had nearly 2,900 names on it.
Furlan said, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, students aren't getting what they paid for.
"I've had one class that has been cancelled altogether, I have another instructor who has been doing actually live classes, other instructors have just been releasing PowerPoint presentations, so for those classes, I'm finding that I'm learning more on YouTube than I am actually through the college setting," said Furlan. "We also found out that our four weeks consolidation, where we take everything we've learned in the last year and apply it to a hospital or community setting, has been cancelled."
Despite the petition, Lambton College Communications Director Cindy Buchanan said the school will not be able to offer any tuition refunds or rebates for the winter term, adding that all 24 colleges within Colleges Ontario will be following the same practices.
Buchanan said the college has taken a number of measures to address a portion of the financial burden that students are currently experiencing due to COVID-19 and to ensure all students have the opportunity to finish their classes.
"Lambton College and many of the other colleges have taken measures to make bursaries available, as well there have been ancillary fee reductions, there have been food drops, there has been access to laptops, and additional student services," she said. "We continue to do everything we can to ensure that our students have the support they need to complete their semester successfully."
Nursing student Elizabeth Newman, said the college's decision is disappointing.
"We do understand that Lambton College is doing the best they can in this situation, as everyone is, and we do appreciate the amount that they've been able to do thus far, but there are experiences that we will be missing out on due to this situation."