I applied to Kaplan University in 2006 and was not able to apply until I also applied for Financial Aid. I had a counselor/advisor assigned to me. The process with the Financial Aid took an extremely long time, but after faxing numerous documents, I never received the Financial Aid. Everyone that I could get a hold of at their contact number had no idea what was going on. They kept telling me to keep sending things in, keep faxing in more documents. On top of everything else, I was denied access to my online account. Last I checked, I payed all the fees that were due (which the rest was supposedly "covered by Financial Aid"), however, I couldn't even check my balance because they denied me access!
Several months later, I received a phonecall from some "Accounts/Financial Rep" from Kaplan, saying I had a "severly past due" tuition payment that I owed of $12,000! I was in complete shock because this was the first time I heard this. I asked why and he said because my financial aid didn't cover anything. I completely ignored their incredibly harrassing phonecalls from there. They would call every other day (literally) and it was always a different representative (they were basically telemarketers). They only knew to tell me I owed money; no clue of my financial aid that was supposed to go through, no clue about my student status, etc. It was just some woman or man who wanted me to hand over a credit card number.
Just recently, I received a phonecall from collections, saying I owed this amount ($12,000) to Kaplan and that I could pay all of it, set up a payment plan OR get a loan for $9,800 and that would cover it. I don't know WHY the lump sum of $9,800 would cover it... But that's how they would be willing to settle that. I told them that I had no proof from Kaplan that the money was owed, NO paperwork, NO invoice or anything. The collections said that this is what ruined my credit (surprise surprise. Thanks Kaplan). I'm not planning to pay them a dime, they are committing fraud and are scamming people back and forth.
I'm sure that MANY other people out there are in the same boat, from what I've read. At first I wasn't sure what to do because I thought I was the only one. However, I am working with a military attorney at the moment to see if I can get them blacklisted. Also, I will be contacting Kaplan. If they do not remove my "balance" and get my case out of collections, I have enough evidence to go to court with this. For everyone else out there, I highly recommend you IGNORE their harrassment, the point is for them to get money, DONT FALL FOR IT! They don't care about giving you a diploma, I would suggest going to a REAL school, that's what I did after I swore off Kaplan; I go to a real university now where my tuition is no where near what they supposedly charge and I'm getting a good education and will soon graduate. Do what I did, get a lawyer and gather your evidence. There are very few good Online Schools... Kaplan just isn't one of them.
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