CommentI thought trying to deal with Kaplan’s Financial Aid and Student Accounts Department was a nightmare, but after withdrawing it only got worse. This so called University has no integrity, and is one of the most tenacious predators I have ever encountered when it comes to dealing with a school or business.
I had nothing hassles when ever tried ever get in touch with anyone from this so called FA dept. I could never get in touch with my own FA advisor no matter when I tried to reach her. I would call and leave voice mail messages, send email after email and FA would never return my messages, or answer any of my questions that I had.
When I first enrolled at Kaplan, my Academic advisor assured me that all the courses would transfer and I did not have anything to worry about, but after checking into several other Universities I found out that was a bunch B.S., not to mention that they are supposed to be an accredited University, what that really means is they are an accredited school of higher learning, not an accredited University, a big difference.
It was disappointing to find out that a good majority of the credits and courses that I would earn from Kaplan would not transfer over to some of the other Universities I wanted to attend. Most of the 5 credit courses that would transfer over were only worth about 3 credits to most other Universities.
I also realized that I would be going into an incredible amount of debt for courses and credits that would not transfer. At a cost of $320.00 per credit hour, and considering that most of the courses are set at 5 credits each, that ads up to $1600.00 per course. Since it takes a total of160 credits to earn a bachelor degree at Kaplan, that would be a total cost of $51,200.00, and that’s if the tuition would have stayed the same, which by the way it increased to $340.00 a credit hour. Even with the combination of the Stafford Loans, and Pell-Grants that wouldn’t even cover the total cost of the full tuition.
Almost from the very beginning I started having trouble with the Financial Aid department at Kaplan. I explained to them from the very start that I was living on disability Income and could not afford any out of pocket expenses. I was assured that I would not have to worry about that because of my income, and they told me that it would all be picked up through my Stafford loans, and Federal Pell Grants.
Of course I found that was a big misrepresentation once I started receiving bills for past due tuition. That was when I tried repeatedly to have it resolved with FA and ended up with many different stories as why I now have an out-of-pocket expense that I was originally assured that I would not have in the first place.
When I originally got walked through Kaplan’s financial wizard by my Admissions Advisor it showed that I would not have any out of pocket expenses, but soon after starting my first term I started getting bills for unpaid tuition. That’s when I started confronting financial aid about it.
When I was able to finally reach my FA advisor she told me it was because my EFC rating changed. I asked her how my EFC could change when my income did not change. She tried to say I went into FAFSA and changed it. I told her that was a
bunch of B.S., so I called FAFSA and found out that that Kaplan went in there and changed my EFC from a 0 to 1873 rating which lead to a out of pocket expanse that I was not prepared to pay.
Once again they assured me not to worry because it would get picked up into the following year’s financial aid distribution. I found out that was a crock of B.S. also once I started to get harassed for more money. Now their excuse this time was my grants and loans for the new FA aid year did not cover the full cost of the tuition which once again was a different story that I was originally lead to believe.
I have a friend who enrolled at Kaplan around the same time I did, and she was going through almost the identical same situation I was, and she even had a different Financial Aid officer than I did. The longer I attended Kaplan the more disorganized, deceptive, manipulative and greedy I found out Kaplan was. Once I decided to withdraw it took Kaplan about two months to figure out what my final withdraw would be as they called it, or to put it in better terms a way to screw me out of more money.
They then wanted me to take this withdraw exit test and said it was required by the lending institution who was holding my loans. The website they gave me I could not even use because I got all kinds of security warnings about the sites security certificates. My Internet Explorer warned me not to leave any identifiable information at the site, which is what you had to do to complete the test.
I constantly called and wrote about this situation that I experienced to see what I could do about or what they suggested I should do, and nobody from their Student Accounts dept. would even get back with me on it. So I contacted the bank who is holding my loans and they said there was nothing they could do until the school notified them that I withdrew. Kaplan never even bothered let the Bank know that I withdrew from school, so I was still left in limbo on that too.
So to my dismay I ended up receiving a final bill in the mail on 08/05/08, even though I did not take the exit test that was supposed to be required to take by The Higher Education Foundation. In only three days after receiving the final withdraw calculation or final bill, I then received a late notice. I don’t know about you, but that’s the quickest late notice I have ever received, in only three days.
I never even received a notice in my hard mail or snail mail, it was through the e-mail. I then started getting phone calls on a daily basis. I contacted student accounts about it, and told them I would pay the full amount next month. I have since received phone calls three times a day on both my land-line and cell phone to the point it has become pure harassment.
It has only been a little over a week since receiving that final withdraw calculation from Kaplan and they have called over 23 times now, because I have kept records of every time they have called. I even wrote and called them back several times and said I would report them to the Higher Education Foundation, The Attorney General and the FCC for phone harassment. Can you believe they even have called twice today?
I can’t believe with all the complaints filed at Rip-Off Report and other places on-line that I have read about, including some of class action law-suites that have been filed against Kaplan University, they are still taking advantage of so many people. This bogus school has managed to destroy the hopes and dreams of many individuals wanting to improve the quality of their lives, only to have that dream shattered by such a greedy, ruthless organization called a University that’s just nothing more than a front for dishonest, shady and manipulative practices for their own financial gain.
I stand behind and would like to join forces with anyone that would like to get a class-action law-suit against this so called University. Kaplan University needs to be shut-down so they don’t continue wrecking the lives of hard working individuals with the hopes of improving the quality of their lives. There are a lot of people out there with good intentions whose lives have been totally turned upside down by this kind of ruthlessness.
 Comments (6) |  |
| 1. Written by Lisa, on 03-09-2009 23:06 Its ACCEPTED not EXCEPTED.. maybe it was user error |
| 2. Written by Kaplan Student, on 16-09-2008 16:42 If your looking for help or feedback on how to resolve your problems with Kaplan or just need to vent about Kaplan University, come vent on our student forums for free. www.kaplanforums.com We can help. |
| 3. Written by Mona, on 11-09-2008 14:54 After raising two daughters I decided that it was time to do something for me, so I decided to go back to school. I have to work full time so I decided to go to school online. I applied at Kaplan and I felt so proud to tell people that I had registered for college at the ripe old age of 36. I too thought everything would be taken care of through grants and loans, but boy was I wrong. Since this was my first time dealing with the whole college thing I went along with what ever the school said. Originally my monthly out of pocket expense was $50.00 and I figured that wasn't too bad for what I would gain once I had a degree, so I paid it. Eventually that $50.00 kept growing each year to approximately $125.00. I struggled through with some of my math course and called the school for help, the only advice they gave me was to find myself a tutor because "I choose to go to school so I should do what ever it takes to pass the class". After repeating the class three times I finally passed and finished after two years to then realize that my degree is not going to cost me $33,000. I know I should continue my education, but I'm hesitate now due to the school loan I owe Kaplan. Some of my friends that went to regular campus schools have received their degrees and their loans only range between $10,000 to $12,000. Although I have my degree I still feel like I Kaplan ripped me off financially !!! |
| 4. Written by Katlin, on 05-09-2008 21:50 Hey guys. Sorry your having so many problems. I graduate from Kaplan in 4 months from their Legal Studies Program and have been happy thus far. Had some issues but they were fixed, you have to be persistent with them if you want to get things done. I know its aggravating but thats the way it is apparently everywhere. For those of you having problems with financial aide and your student accounts, I would strongly recommend contacting Bridget McGuire, she is the Vice President of Financial Aide 954.512.5027. She was very helpful in resolving an issue that I had with the FA office. Also theres a new site up for Kaplan Students that may be able to further direct you to the right people that may be able to help you. www.kaplanuniversitystudentforums.com. You have an opportunity to vent there as well.. Take care. |
| 5. Written by C macdally, on 21-08-2008 12:09 try getting your money back under their 30 day refund policy. takes months and you have to have your proof in line. i am still waiting for my credit return of funds |
| 6. Written by karen, on 21-08-2008 10:27 here is want happened to me i also think they changed my info on my FAFSA I put this on another complaint site. While my husband is in Iraq I decided to continue my education. Since I live a ways from a university in my state I decided to attend a university on line. After completeing all my paper work including my FAFSA I was told everything was excepted and I would be starting my classes in April. I should have had a clue when they requested my paper work three separate times even though they confirmed receipt. Finaly my admissions counselor told me everything was aproved and I am once again ready to start in April. Mind you I told the admissions counselor I could only attend if I had the loan and grant because I was not working and I could not afford any out of pocket expenses. She assured me everything was excepted and approved. So in April I called one more time to make sure everything was approved the day I was to start class. About three weeks into my courses I was informed that my FAFSA was filled in correctly and now i was not eligible for the grant, which means I would be responsible for almost $400.00 a month besides my student loan. Needless to say I had to drop out. Now they want me to pay $1200.00 for three weeks of class for which I will get nothing for. The only thing they were out was a $30.00 textbook everything else was at my expence. I used my own computer, dsl, and electricity. Why did my financial adviser catch the error on my FAFSA application, is'nt that's what she's paid to do. Now I have their collections department calling me 2 to 3 times a day for the $1200 which I don't feel I should be responsible for due to someone elses incompetence! Now they want $1200 I don't have and my dreams of my education are shattered. Thanks Kaplan for shattering my dreams!!! |
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