> students are expected to use the app or face suspension

How does this work in the contract the college has with the student? Is there a term in the contract that allows the college to unilaterally add additional terms — terms which can then lead to unilateral termination of the contract by the college with or without some kind of notice period?

Presumably “suspension”, while framed as a punitive measure against students, is legally just the college withdrawing from the contract under previously agreed terms?

I ask because I’m increasingly encouraging young people to recognize that they are legal adults when they go off to higher education, and they should politely resist any trend for colleges to infantalise them by reframing terms of contracts as silly rules.