Just three universities are putting their name publicly to the legal action – Bath Spa, Southampton Solent and London Metropolitan.
The vice-chancellor of Bath Spa University, Prof Georgina Andrews, said the universities had acted in “good faith” and the sudden decision “punished those who are the most vulnerable in our society who are trying to better their lives through education”.
The universities said they “strongly reject” that in-person, timetabled weekend teaching is classified as “distance learning”, arguing it “defies common sense”.
Prof Julie Hall, the vice-chancellor of London Metropolitan University, added the decision “hits students from underrepresented and lower income backgrounds the hardest”.
The National Union of Students vice president Alex Stanley said students’ trust had been “broken” as a result of the mistakes made.
The NUS said “regardless of where the blame lies” it was within the power of the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson to stop the “immediate clawback”.
It has collected a petition of 13,000 signatures and said hundreds of students will gather in Westminster on Thursday, before a small group delivers their requests to the Department for Education.
The government has made clear it expects universities to ensure students and graduates are not caused any financial distress as a result of the decision.
While it declined to comment on the legal action, the government has argued that universities have either failed to pay attention to the regulations or that there were “abuses” of the system.
Among the courses involved are some delivered by smaller private colleges under a franchise agreement with universities who award the degree.
The government plans to introduce stricter rules for these colleges, requiring any with more than 300 students to come under the scrutiny of the regulator the Office for Students (OFS) before being eligible for access to student finance.
The OFS will publish draft plans later on Thursday which would require all regulated institutions to publish clear information for students on key issues such as complaints, refunds and compensation as well as agents working to their behalf in recruitment.
In response to the dispute over weekend courses, the OFS said it expected universities to prevent students facing extra costs they weren’t expecting, “including the payment of hardship support where maintenance loan payments have been blocked.”
“Where institutions can’t agree a way forward with students, they should stand ready to offer appropriate redress, which could include financial compensation. Students must be treated fairly and in line with consumer law.”
The Student Loans Company said the regulations had been in place since 2011 and universities, including their franchised colleges, were responsible for ensuring courses were classified correctly.
It added it would work with students to put in place “affordable repayment plans”.
In a statement it said: “In this case, we have acted urgently as requested by government in order that public funds were not paid out in respect of courses that were incorrectly designated by certain providers.”