The Supreme Court of California has declined to review lower-court rulings that the University of California unfairly raised fees for 35,000 students, meaning the university will be forced to pay back about $40-million, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

Today’s decision leaves intact a November ruling by the California Court of Appeal, which upheld a trial-court judge’s order in 2006 that directed the university to repay the fees. The amount was then pegged at $33.8-million, but it has grown with interest. The original complaint, which was filed in 2003 and later expanded as a class-action lawsuit, contended that the university had broken implied contracts not to raise certain fees for students seeking professional degrees over the course of their studies.

The case now goes back to the trial-court judge, who will decide how much each of the affected students will receive. —Charles Huckabee