The 'Future' of Higher Education

I've been waiting to write this post since January. For the past five months or so, I've been working out at a telemarketing firm out in Coralville- I took the job because it paid better than Wal-Mart, and despite the fact that it was telemarketing I had a pretty good sense of humor about it all. After all, I'd done factory work, I'd done security work, so yeah, I should probably end up doing telemarketing work as well. To me, it seemed like one of those jobs everyone has at least once and then moves on to bigger and better things, looking back and laughing on the crappy job they once had.

Plus- and this was a benefit- I lucked out. I wasn't actually selling things- I was doing inbound customer service calls, or more specifically, Financial Aid Servicing for Kaplan University Online. At first, it felt good. I was helping people out- ranging in ages from 18 to 81, many of whom had little to no experience using a computer or going to college. But the more I learned about Kaplan, the more disillusioned I became.

A quick Google Search and a check of some consumer reports sites (RipoffReport.com, The Better Business Bureau) reveals that Kaplan has helped a few students succeed while leaving behind a trail of indebted, embittered students, all of whom were enrolled and then left to hang out to dry. So, if you want the low-down on 'the future of higher education', don't buy into the crappy television ad with Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince, buy into this:

First of all, the price. An Associates Degree from Kaplan costs $40,000 and a four year Bachelor's Degree? $70,000. Yep, I shit you not. If that's not reason enough to run screaming to your local community college as fast as possible- don't worry, I'll give you some more. Kaplan charges outrageous prices for a degree that won't get you very far. From all the stories I've seen online, a degree from Kaplan might get some places, but a large majority of places will laugh you out of the room when you tell them that you got a degree from Kaplan. (Plus one of Kaplan's most popular degrees is the Associates of Medical Transcription-- you get to pay $40 grand for a job that if you're very lucky will make you $18 an hour but could make you as little as $9. Doesn't seem like a very good deal.)

Second of all, the system: Kaplan will be your best friend in the world and roll out the red carpet, champagne and all the trimmings to get you enrolled. Once you're enrolled however, good luck. All the complaints I've seen have a very familiar ring to them- students just happily working their way through school until suddenly, a semester before graduation, they get a bill for $6,000 because nobody bothered to tell them that those extra classes they took weren't covered by their financial aid. This is because when you're getting enrolled, you could have talked to people like me- Financial Aid Counselors. But after you're enrolled, you get your very own Financial Aid Officer who is supposed to take care of you while you're going to school. But good luck getting them on the phone. On average, I spoke to at least 3 enrolled students a day all of whom were varying degrees of pissed off and frustrated because they couldn't get their FAO on the phone after sometimes weeks and months of trying. Some people might say that students have an inherent responsibility to make sure their financial aid covers the classes they take- and it's true, they do- and I talked to enrolled students every single day who were trying to do just that, but they were never given the information- which comes down to incompetence on the part of Kaplan more than anything else.

Kaplan makes no bones about the fact that it is a 'for-profit' school-- this should be a major red-flag to any potential students. They could give a damn about the success of their students because all they want is your money. Admissions Advisers are told that if 75% of their enrollments just pay the deposit and log into classes at least once in the first week, they've done a good job. No emphasis on getting graduation rates, no emphasis on student success- just the bottom line, plain and simple.

This for-profit mentality causes problems for the corporate structure of Kaplan as well. Admissions is perceived as a revenue source, while Financial Aid Servicing is seen as a drag on the bottom line. Admissions people are expected to take the time to work with the students and get their money, while Financial Aid Counselors are expected to work as quickly as possible, because the more students they handle, the more money Kaplan gets. While I agree with that latter statement to a point, a recent change in attitude emphasizing quantity over quality work in the Financial Aid Department has led to more problems than solutions- since new management was put in charge of Financial Aid, I saw an increase in students whose accounts had not been properly handled at all. Not only did I end up speaking to more angry enrolled students, I ended speaking to students whose accounts were total messes because management wanted speed and not quality- the old maxim 'haste makes waste' put into practice. The whole structure and attitude is sloppy and Admissions and Financial Aid don't work as a team to get enrollments for Kaplan, they're kept at cross purposes and denied information about how things work in the other department which creates an inefficient and ineffective means of providing students services they need to be successful.

But it provides Kaplan with money, so they don't care.

Kaplan University claims it is a quality school, it claims that it is providing good education, but nothing could be further from the truth. They charge outrageous prices for sub-par degrees which will get students nowhere. A degree from a piss-poor community college would serve you better- a degree from anywhere else will service you better. All the stories of bad experiences with Kaplan have a familiar ring to them: they'll do anything to suck you in, but once you're in, you're totally screwed. Expect little or no support from anyone- and even if you are trying to be a responsible student and find out if your classes are covered by Financial Aid, good luck in getting your Financial Aid Officer on the phone. (Another filthy little secret: it's not entirely the fault of the FAO's. Kaplan has them on salary, so that means they're too cheap to hire more, which they badly need to do. So 32,000 students get spread out between at best, 100 FAO's. That's 320 students per FAO. The workload is not within driving distance of being reasonable.)

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of doing your research! This is your education, your future and your dreams! Know everything about what you want to do and compare prices and quality between schools before you just sign up for one. Yes, online schools may lure you in because they seem like they may fit your busy lifestyle, but community colleges offer night classes and a lot of them are offering online options as well- there's a way to get this done without being sucked into a degree mill like Kaplan.

Higher education is heading for a big change, there's no doubt- to me an ideal university of the future is a lean, mean organization that offers excellent campus based and wide-spread online options for students- and more to the point, gives students options to help make education fit into their lives better. (More night classes, Saturday classes, online classes, etc.) But if the 'future' of higher education is for-profit institutions like Kaplan, then higher education is in a great deal of trouble.