College's Ai Software Categorized Me Incorrectly As Out-of-state And Now Won't Give Me A Refund.

Location: Virginia

In the fall of 2024, I decided to begin attending Northern Virginia Community College in pursuit of an associate's degree. That semester I signed up and submitted all my documentation to provide proof of Virginia residency, of which I had a fair amount, as I'd been a resident for over two years at that point. I began taking my three classes along with a one credit required orientation course, and finished my first semester with ease. The next semester, I realized I'd been mistakenly categorized as an out of state student. I spoke with an academic/financial advisor at the college, and she told me they used an AI program to work out who was in vs. out of state. So of course I asked about receiving a refunded difference as I was a Virginia resident. She told me it wouldn't be likely I'd receive one, even if I appealed any decision, as this was the previous semester and I hadn't noticed the mistake.

I realize I should've noticed, but this is my first ever degree I've pursued, and I'm in my 30's so my ignorance to community college pricing didn't raise any red flags to the cost during that first semester. It was more expensive than I expected, but I also didn't expect any AI program to be auto sorting me incorrectly.

Anyways, this never sat right with me. I'm still at this college and I submitted a request for an exception to the college tuition policy. They determined that it does not qualify under the policy stating:

"Based on information we have received from the Campus Registrar, it appears that you did not provide the requested/required documentation necessary to change you from out-of-state to in-state tuition for this semester. This is not a new policy, and the information was and is on the College's website in several places. While I know that this is not the answer that you were hoping for, we must abide by the rules which are set by the State Board of Community Colleges."

I feel like the fact that they admitted (albeit not in writing) that this was an AI mistake, which they conveniently left out in my denial letter despite that being included in my request, feels fishy. Especially everything going on with AI and the issues it's caused in areas like mine, would the state board not find this wrong? I don't want them to simply get away with this, so I've come to ask if there are any legal moves I could make.