Kaplan University

Kaplan University

Type	For-profit online university
Established	1937 as the American Institute of Commerce
President	Wade Dyke
Academic staff	More than 3,600
Students	66,000 online and campus-based students
Location	Davenport , IA , USA
Campus	In addition to its online operations, the University has 10 campuses in Iowa, Nebraska and Maryland, and one Kaplan University Learning Center in Milwaukee
Affiliations	Kaplan Higher Education Corporation, The Washington Post Company, accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
Website	kaplan.edu

Kaplan University ("CAP-linn") is the "doing business as" (DBA) name of the Iowa College Acquisition Corporation, a company that owns and operates for-profit colleges. It is owned by Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of the Washington Post.

Kaplan University is predominantly a distance learning institution of higher education that is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA). The fictitious name comes from Stanley Kaplan, who founded Kaplan Test Prep.

Kaplan University offers associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees as well as certificates in such fields as education, business, information technology, arts and sciences, healthcare, nursing, criminal justice, and law. Kaplan serves more than 66,000 online and on-campus students. While Kaplan University is based in Davenport, Iowa, the main administration building is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In addition to 10 campuses in Iowa, Nebraska and Maryland (and one Kaplan University Learning Center in Milwaukee), Kaplan has online student support centers in Florida, Illinois and Arizona. Kaplan has more than 3,600 instructors, professors and administrators.

History

The American Institute of Commerce was established in 1937 before changing its name to Quest College. In November 2000, Quest College's name was changed to Kaplan College after Kaplan, Inc. acquired it with the purchase of Quest Education Corporation.

In September 2004, Kaplan College officially changed its name to Kaplan University after it was granted permission to offer graduate-level degree programs.

The university’s school of nursing was awarded a national professional accreditation for its Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in April 2006 from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). In October 2007, all seven Iowa and Nebraska-based Hamilton College (Iowa) campuses merged with Kaplan University and are now operating under the Kaplan University brand. Concord Law School merged with Kaplan University in October 2007, changing its name to Concord Law School of Kaplan University. Concord is not recognized by the American Bar Association, which does not accredit online institutions, although students with non-ABA-accredited law degrees are allowed to take California's bar examination and practice law once admitted to the bar.

Academics

Kaplan University is academically organized into ten schools.

• Arts and Sciences
• Business
• Criminal Justice
• Education
• Health Sciences
• Information Systems and Technology
• Legal Studies
• Nursing
• Kaplan Continuing Education
• Concord Law School of Kaplan University

Admissions and financial aid

Kaplan University has an open admissions policy. Applicants are eligible for both Pell grants and federal student loans.

In 2010 Florida's Attorney General opened an investigation of Kaplan and four other for-profit universities for allegedly making misrepresentations to students about several matters, including financial aid. The federal Education Department released data in August 2010 demonstrating that only 28% of former Kaplan students were paying anything off the principal of their student loans. The remainder were paying only interest on their loans, were behind in payments, or in default. For comparison, the federal data show that 56% of students from non-profit colleges in the United States are paying off principal from their loans, thus at twice the rate of Kaplan students.

Report on improper recruiting

Kaplan University was one of 15 for-profit colleges cited by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for deceptive or questionable statements that were made to undercover investigators posing as applicants. The Pembroke Pines and Riverside campuses were both cited in the GAO report. Andrew S. Rosen, President of Kaplan, Inc., described the tactics as "sickening" and promised to eliminate such conduct from Kaplan. On November 30, 2010, the GAO issued a revised report with several significant edits, altering key passages and softening several of the initial allegations.

Course format

Online instructors and professors are required to hold two online office hours per week, and are also available via email and have to respond within 24 hours on weekdays and 48 hours on weekends if a student emails them. Also, weekly discussion boards are a part of each class curriculum, with a specific discussion topic required weekly for student/peers and student/instructor interaction in order to learn and grow within the student's field. In addition, scheduled weekly seminar sessions are held online once a week in each class with audio chat capabilities available for most classes which is highly advised to attend but is not mandatory . Completing option 2, or a pre-expected and additional assignment, is left an option if life makes it impossible for the student to attend the scheduled weekly seminar session. Major core classes have required weekly exams which must be completed within the week in order to receive credit for taking the class, along with required weekly assignments that must be completed. Research papers are expected along with other types of writing papers and all students are fully required and expected to cite using APA format in order to avoid plagiarism.

Many courses also have a complete series of pre-recorded video sessions which are designed to replace the course textbook as the primary source of information. The video sessions are also available in text form, as notes and transcripts are posted for students to download and study. Within this context, the course text becomes a supplemental source of information to back up and reinforce what the students learn during the video session.

Group activity

Students are given open access to a course lounge where they can meet informally and form study groups. In addition, Kaplan offers the use of a course chatroom, where help sessions are held prior to exams and special projects. Students may also use the course chatroom for group sessions on their own.

All seminars and group study sessions are archived so that students who cannot attend may review them in text form later.

Virtual future

The Kaplan School of Arts and Sciences has purchased a virtual island inside Second Life, intending to have Group Help Sessions and Virtual Laboratory Exercises available for students who obtain avatars.

False Claims Act lawsuit

Three former academic officers at Kaplan University have filed a wide-ranging federal lawsuit accusing the university of defrauding the United States government out of more than $4 billion. The lawsuit alleges that Kaplan enrolled unqualified students, inflated their grades so they could stay enrolled, and falsified documents to obtain accreditation for certain academic programs. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida in March 2008.

Further, the Justice Department maintained, the “parade of horribles” that Kaplan predicted if the case were not dismissed was “entirely illusory”. The government is entitled to a portion of the proceeds if the employees prevail against the company. Kaplan University has denied any wrongdoing.

As of mid 2010, The Chronicle of Higher Education has reported that the U.S. Department of Justice has taken a stance in siding with several whistle-blowers in false claims lawsuits against various colleges owned by Kaplan Higher Education. Under the "False Claims Act", individuals are allowed to file lawsuits on behalf of the government in cases which involve allegations of fraud.

Kaplan Higher Education argues that the lawsuit should be dismissed because it lacks the specificity required in a federal fraud case.

Agreement with California Community Colleges

In 2009 a two-year memorandum of understanding was signed between Jack Scott, the chancellor of the California Community Colleges System, and Gregory Marino, President of the Kaplan University Group. Under this agreement, students who need a course to meet their associate degree requirements would be able to take it at Kaplan. However, they would have to pay Kaplan's tuition, which is $646 for a three-credit class, compared with $78 at the community colleges. And there is no guarantee that the Kaplan course will be accepted by any four-year college the student transfers to, such as a UC or Cal State University campus. The agreement is controversial because it was signed without any input from community college educators.

References

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-20/florida-probing-kaplan-for-profit-colleges-after-complaints-u-s-report.html?cmpid=yhoo

_________________ Kaplan University’s Legal Studies and Paralegal Studies degree programs are sound and rigorous comparatively to other Legal Studies programs at institutions of higher learning across the United States. The course curriculum is challenging. Kaplan University students are engaged in lively, applied case scenario, law-related discussions that are relevant to the weekly unit’s learning objective in addition to utilizing an independent and team research approach, written assignments, and weekly quizzes or exams. Students engage in live audio seminars each week where instructors use PowerPoint presentations or virtual white board to convey lectures and assignments. Students operate LEXISNEXIS and other progressive legal research tools in their daily work, have access to an excellent university library to study materials such as the Harvard Law Review and Yale Law Journal along with other popular legal, peer-reviewed journal articles, and are supplied the most recently published legal texts for study in which a normal week might include as many as 100pp. or more per weekly unit/class in a given legal concept in addition to further required readings and case studies in class. Further, KU Legal Studies students are provided with additional thought-provoking and stimulating scholastic legal apparatus by dynamic instructors who impart an unassailable legal knowledge and outstanding preparation to their students for immediate internship in law offices and corporations upon graduation, internationally. Students are required to turn in concise, thorough research papers in ABA format citation only. Plagiarism is forbidden. In fact, the security structure of the KU’s technology is multi-faceted and complex, making it impossible for KU students to cheat on exams or research papers that are screened for plagiarism, which is in fact a common problem at brick & mortar universities where students normally hand in hard-copy papers.

KU’s faculty consists of highly respected licensed, practicing attorneys and justices that serve on many law-related committees and advisory boards within their states with the Department of Justice in the United States and in various capacities abroad offering a tremendous amount of experience in law, in legal instruction and willingly avail themselves to students as needed for additional tutoring. Students have a solid, incomparable working knowledge of the most current and historical case law, landmark United States Supreme Court rulings, statutes and code within the United States and internationally from contract law to patent and copyright law to civil litigation or criminal law to constitutional law and more under an all-encompassing and superior legal review. KU’s Legal Studies students are well-prepared, meeting or exceeding the expectations set forth by any welcoming law school and law office. KU Legal Studies students are among the best educated and trained in the United States, being provided the finest legal education available in 2011.

External links

• Kaplan University - Official website
• KU Second Life