Does anyone have facts on Kaplan College? Is it a respectable School? Does anyone know if they have sought regional accreditation?
Kaplan College is run by the same folks who do a mediocre job of preparing people for the SAT. They, in turn, are owned by the very large Washington Post Corporation. Their accreditation is from the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). DETC is a recognized accreditor with good standards. However, their accreditation process and standards are considered by some to be less rigorous than those of the regional accreditors. Also, a degree from a DETC-accredited school will be less acceptable to admissions officials of regionally accredited schools. Still, a degree from Kaplan or another DETC-accredited school may very well meet your individual needs. But you should be very sure of this before proceeding. I don't know of any effort on Kaplan's part to achieve regional accreditation. It is not clear whether (a) they would be able to acheive it, and (b) they would want to--considering the expense involved and any changes they'd be required to make to their degree programs. Rich Douglas
Rich, the BS/MS programs through Kaplan College are regionally accredited through North Central and are offered online. It is the Kaplan College for Professional Studies that is DETC accredited. Depending on what he is looking for, it may be NCA accredited or DETC accredited.
Actually, I think only associate and bachelor degrees are available from Kaplan College, which is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. See http://www.kaplancollege.com/info/units/kaplancollege/unit.asp -- there are links to info on Bachelor of Science and Associate of Science programs, to Microsoft certification programs, and to the Davenport, Iowa campus. The Davenport campus is Quest College, formerly American Institute of Commerce. AIC was purchased by Quest Education Corporation in November 1998, and became Quest College in April of 2000. Kaplan acquired Quest Education in summer 2000. The Kaplan College for Professional Studies includes programs accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) and also courses "for professional development only." -- http://www.kaplancollege.com/info/units/kcsps/unit.asp And then there's the Kaplan-owned Concord University School of Law, also approved by DETC, though so far DETC has been recognized only for accreditation through the Master's degree level. There's more corporate info about Kaplan and links to all their programs at http://www.kaplan.com/about/index.html ------------------ Kristin Evenson Hirst DistanceLearn.About.com
