College Review – Kaplan University
We’ve been formally requested by [edited], a law firm hired by [edited] to force us to remove a review submitted by a former student of Kaplan University. They have sent a formal cease and desist letter to threaten this site about posting any reviews of Kaplan University, or the role of [edited] in funneling students to Kaplan University and other online schools. They have demanded that we release the name of the student that submitted the review, but that is not something we are willing to do, because we don’t believe students should have to deal with legal threats just for speaking out about what their experiences were with Kaplan University. We have a right to free speech in this country and that is a right we believe in, even if [edited], and Kaplan University do not. Therefore, we will retain the factual information submitted in this post, and only remove opinion or references to a particular students experience. If you would like to go on record about your experiences with Kaplan University, or [edited], we will pay up to $1,000 for your story provided you are willing to verify the accuracy of your experiences. It is our opinion that what they are doing to students is horrible, but without people willing to step forward it will continue to happen to others.
False Hopes
When I first looked into Kaplan University everything seemed legit, and being able to attend school on a flexible schedule from home really appeals to people. Unfortunately, many students don’t find out the full truth until several years later. The advisers there have been reported to act as essentially sales people whose job is to get students “in the door” so to speak. Some have been caught on tape at certain online schools making promises that are inaccurate and misleading. Many students believe that they will be getting a comparable education to a standard university, at a reasonable cost, but that is not what generally happens.
Ridiculously Expensive
After graduating, many students are surprised to find how expensive it was and a much higher percentage of students are unable to pay back their loans. As it turns out, many students could go to Harvard or Yale for less money than it costs to get a “degree” from Kaplan. I did some digging, and as it turns out, Kaplan University is owned by the Washington Post – so the school is essentially a profit making enterprise! The reason it is so expensive is because the Washington Post gets almost 60% of it’s entire revenue base from this division. According to the Department of Education, only 27% of Kaplan graduates are ever able to repay their student loans. Worse yet, the bankruptcy laws were rewritten recently so that even if you go broke as a result, you’ll never be able to discharge your student loans for Kaplan, and you’ll be stuck paying sometimes tens of thousands of dollars back to them for the rest of your life.
Degree is Useless
Perhaps many of these students wouldn’t have been as upset with the cost if they could have at least gotten a job in their field with the degree. Unfortunately, many HR professionals are trained to spot schools like these on a resume and some choose not to recognize schools like Kaplan, so the degree is essentially worthless in some people’s opinions. When I looked into it, I found out that they were able to finagle some kind of accreditation and that’s why they call themselves a “University”, but the accreditation is being reviewed for revocation. Thankfully, congress is finally looking into Kaplan University and schools like it and US Senator Tom Harkin has promised to get to the bottom of their deceptive practices, and scheduled a senate hearing that will hopefully lead to the removal of their accreditation. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has already determined that they are using fraudulent tactics to lure students in.
How they Get You
We’ve all seen the commercials on late night TV for schools like Kaplan University, but they have really started to take off with online advertising. As it turns out, one of the ways that Kaplan University gets new students is by using a company called [edited] to manage advertising campaigns designed to funnel students into various for-profit schools (they have hundreds of these “schools” for you to pick from). It would appear that [edited] gets paid by the schools for students that sign up as a result of their advertising campaigns, or to manage the campaign that results in the students signing up. It doesn’t seem like what [edited] is doing should be legal, but until and unless Congress takes action it would appear they are in the clear, despite having what seems to be an obvious financial interest in getting students to sign up for these types of schools. With many in the government saying that some of these schools are scams, it would only seem logical that [edited] is in some way complicit. They have refused to comment on here, deciding instead to threaten lawsuits, so it seems they certainly have something to hide.
Summary
Here is what we know about Kaplan University:
- The “degrees” cost more than many degrees from traditional universities
- The “degrees” are often not recognized by employers, so it may not even get you a job
- The US Government is investigating them for deceptive practices
- The US Senate is holding hearings on revocation of their accreditation
- Almost 3/4 of its graduates can never repay their student loans (possibly because they’re unemployed)
- Most traditional Universities offer the same flexibility of online classes and degrees, for less money
Kaplan University, and others like it appear to be taking advantage of the horrible economy. They know that people think a degree will improve their chances of gaining employment in this tough economy, so it seems as if they prey on those people. In our opinion, what they are doing is disgusting, and hopefully Congress finally shuts them down, because they are preying off of the poor and uneducated amongst us and there is no justification for ruining people’s lives to make a buck.
Editors note: I have contacted those named in this review for a rebuttal. Representatives from Kaplan University or [edited] are free to give their side of the story, and as long as the facts check out, I will publish it. But I have fact checked the info presented in this review of Kaplan University and found it to be accurate to the best of our knowledge. I have been requested by [edited] to remove a prior review from a student that they didn’t like, and now I have been contacted by their lawyers and threatened with legal action as a result of this expose. Refusing to take down this information may very well result in a lawsuit, but we are prepared to defend the right of students to leave reviews of a school, positive or negative, and we will spend every last cent protecting that freedom if necessary.
If you found the previous article informative, you should check out more in our distance education section, or read some of these articles below:
- College Review – DeVry University
- College Review – Walden University
- College Review – University of Phoenix
- College Review – University of Phoenix #2
- College Review – Capella University
- Pros and Cons of Online Learning
- College Review – American Public University
- The Truth About Distance Education
- Distance Education: One Solution to the Nursing Shortage?
- Factors influencing adult learners decision to drop out or persist in online learning
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Category: College Reviews
About the Author
JV Burr is the editor of MyNextCollege.com, graduate of Wayne State University, serial entrepreneur and domain developer. Use the link to the contact form at the bottom of the page for all advertisement or investment inquiries.Subscribe
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Nice job of combating "deceptive" practices by for-profit institutions with a deceptive and fabricated story. For a former construction worker, you seem to know a lot about the internal workings of the industry.
This was obviously created to further Senator Harkin's agenda.
If you want to be taken seriously, use real stories from real people.
I'm not sure what you have against people who have worked construction – it hasn't been my experience that they are incapable of using the Internet to research a topic after they have been burned. It took me all of 20 minutes to verify the facts he presented. I doubt Senator Harkin would bother to comment on this site in order to further his legislation, and unless he plans on opening a competing school to prey on the poor and uneducated, then I can't see why he would lie.
As I stated at the end of the article, as the editor on this site I have notified Kaplan and [edited] of the review and given them an opportunity to respond on here and either dispute or clarify any of the facts presented. However, since you seem to be such a huge fan of Kaplan, perhaps you could share your own experience. Did you find it beneficial to overpay for a degree that isn't widely recognized just so you could go to school online, despite the fact that every major university offers the same online opportunities for less money and from a respected institution? Interested to hear your response…
We're still awaiting a response from Pierce Feuerherd on these issues, but as of yet they have no comment.
I can't believe more articles aren't being written on this subject. I owe over $50k to Kaplan and they keep trying to put me on payment plans i can't afford and have screwed up my credit. My hatred for them is deep, don't make the same mistakes I did. I work as a receptionist at my cousins dental lab making peanuts in ajob completely unrelated to my so called degree I got from Kaplan. But like the article says, nobody takes these degrees seriously. I feel like I paid $50k from a degree mill.
Its funny that the Chair of the Criminal Justice Department at Kaplan, Robert Kopczynski, was just arrested for Forgery somewhere in Dupage County Illinois. Go figure.
Thanks so much, I was an inch apart from enrollment to kaplan.After this oh no I’ll settle for my near community college.
Hi, I just want to say THANK YOU for saving me from making a huge mistake!!
I chose another online school and so far, I'm very happy with my choice. I read tons of reviews all over the net and there was an overwhelming amount of negative comments on Kaplan University, so it's not just this website. All the stories were about pretty much the same issues. "money/fraud", "financial aid office" , and once they recruit the students, they dump them like a hot potato and treat them terribly. I can't believe i was sooooo close to signing on the bottom line. Once I said I was looking into another college due to all of the bad reviews I'd read, they never called me back. It was so peaceful finally. Most of those schools were hounding me and my kids were even having to deal with nasty admission "sales men/women" when they answered the phone because I was not home. Not just Kaplan, but also ashford, keiser, southern.. etc… It is horrible those sales people were calling us day and night and up to 5 or 6 times a day.. It was a zoo! I was about to sign the financial aid papers and I had already applied and tested!! I got a bad gut feeling and spent 3 nights reading over 400 reviews. I am so glad that I dropped Kaplan just in time. THANKS!!!
I have a story and the evidence all over my email box, I might not owe Kaplan over 50K, but they have ruined my financial stability. I'm currently speaking with some of the HELP commitee members and today I will speak with Sen. Harkin and with news reporters to share my story. VICTIMS OF THIS COLLEGES DO NOT STAY SILENT speak up and together we can be a louder voice I'm sure there's more of us victims than there is of them. Thanks for bringing the TRUTH. If there is people in need of guideance go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/takenumdown2010/
and join this group will provide an inmense amount of help and guideance.
As a former student of Kaplan I can relate to the article as written above. I had a horrible experience and wish I had done more research into this "school" before I enrolled. To begin with I requested information about the school and had a councilor calling within 30 seconds and when I didn't commit right away they called several times a day. After asking the enrollment person some questions I decided to try it out. I was told that the classes were convenient which they were not. The technology often did not work. Their class sites would often be down or it would take up to 30 min. to log in. The worst thing is that I asked specifically about their accreditation and was told that they were state accredited and credits would transfer to any school if I decided Kaplan was not right for me. this was a giant lie. I am out a huge amount of money for one semester of school, the credits are worthless, and I would recommend working at McDonalds for the rest of your life before attending Kaplan University.
Every time I call Financial Aid department I get a different story. They are not allowed to email students anymore. So we don't have proof of what a financial aid advisor told us. On my first academic year, financial aid told me a loan was erased by error and for me not to worry because they will fix it. Couple of month pass, than I stared getting private calls from Kaplan everyday telling me that I have to pay for that money. After going back and forth with them for weeks, my parents did a Parent Plus loan and it was approved to cover it. But I am still getting calls, some financial aid officers told me that I am going to keep getting calls until they get the Parent Plus Loan, they said it was approved but it may take months. Some financial aid officers don't even see that loan on file. I don't know what to do.
I have attended Kaplan and will graduate shortly. None the less, I would recommend almost any other school (online or otherwise). Kaplan's administrative departments are a mess, creating endless red tape and busy work. The school's technical support is a nightmare which makes it almost impossible to attend classes. Instructors and classes are feckless and inane, and the academics are poor (you won't learn a thing). All in all, this is one academic institution to avoid if you are serious about an education or the public's perception of your credentials.
I wouldn't say that I did not learn anything, but I am definitely disappointed with Kraplan. This is what a former classmate and I named the school after being let down time and time again by the instructor and school. I am so far in to it I think I will finish at least with the AS program. I just hope they aren't totally torn apart in the news so my degree will have some kind of integrity. As much as I hate this school and think most of the bad testimonials are correct and can sympathize, don't forget to think about us who actually finished and deserve the accreditation of our degree and putting up with the countless bulls(&**. The school was awesome at first though, now think they have made too many budget cuts and it is affecting their staff quality and yes their students feel every bit of it. INCOMPETENCE!!!!! INCOMPETENCE!!!!! Thanks for the books though lol (IT Program)
I graduated from Kaplan in Arlington, TX the end of 2010. I took Medical coding/billing. This school and course is a joke. It was a big waste of money for me. Some of the things promised in the beginning were never taught (Microsoft Office). Other things that I am finding now should have been taught and are crucial to coding, was not. We had an awesome teacher who really cared about his students and if they learned. But other than him, no one really cared.
It’s a money making business, plain and simple. I have worked in health insurance and billing for 17 years before attending Kaplan. I just wanted to get my coding certification. I don't know about other areas, but DFW doesn’t care about your certification or school transcript. If you don’t have 3-5 years experience in coding, they won't even give you an interview. I graduated with a 3.96 GPA and learned everything they taught with high grades. So, it isn’t that I did not apply myself. What most people do not know is, you do not need to go to school to do medical billing. Only to get a coding certification. 15K later, it was an expensive lesson for me for a whole lot of nothing. And as far as career services go in helping you find work, it is also a joke. They scour the same job ads and job boards via the Internet that I was doing myself at home. Never again!!!