Students in Cork want their money back after paying up front for accommodation this semester.
Earlier this week, the government's ordered colleges to start the new semester with online classes only for the next two weeks.
But UCC Students' Union says many students have already made arrangements to turn up in person - and some have already paid thousands of euro upfront.
UCC SU president Naoise Crowley fears they may have wasted a huge amount of money, "The first two weeks of classes will be online but we don't know if that means two weeks or is it longer."
"We now have a situation for students where they don't know if they should leave their accommodation now, they don't know whether they'll be in there for a day or week or less."
"People have paid three or four thousand euros upfront and are in a situation where they may not need to use that accommodation."
Eimear Curtain, Student' Union Education Officer said that the late notice of that changes has added to the "already extreme uncertainty" surrounding student's return to college.
"It is not an ideal learning environment," she said.
