@jdkaim do the project as a way to say you're sorry, give them the work uncompensated (effectively they're charging you the value of your degree, I'd assume that's not trivial).

Once you have your degree, you can go from there, hire a lawyer, sue for uncompensated labor (something about minimum wage laws, I think, requires they pay you), and so on. Maybe even some emotional distress.

But hey, IANAL and ya gotta do what you think is right.