Andrew S. Rosen, the chief executive of Kaplan Inc., wrote to Education Secretary Arne Duncan this week, suggesting that by making the introductory portion of its programs “risk-free” and refunding the tuition, the company could counter criticism of how it recruits students. The letter, dated September 8 and reported late Friday by The Washington Post, was part of the company’s official comments on the federal government’s proposed new “gainful employment” rule.
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5 Responses to Kaplan CEO Suggests Money-Back Guarantee for Some Students
archman - September 12, 2010 at 12:45 am
This doesn’t sound like an entrapment scheme… nooooooo…The devil will be in the details. I look forward to reading all of the concealed fine print.
tracey_zimmerman - September 13, 2010 at 11:27 am
In what regard would this be an entrapment scheme?
archman - September 13, 2010 at 4:24 pm
The entrapment would be finding sneaky ways to keep students in the classroom beyond the “tuition-free, introductory period”. You could be vague about defining this period, stuff it up with exemptions, outright lie or mislead, etc…This is common in many consumer product sales, where you have the (supposed) option of returning items if you are not satisfied with them within a given time period. Unfortuately, the fine print of many of these products tends to be laced with so many caveats and exceptions, the buyer often finds him/herself screwed over.Case in point, colleague who found out that her “risk-free” software trial period didn’t actually begin when she received the product, but when the product was shipped. Shipping took forever… boy was she mad.
archman - September 13, 2010 at 4:39 pm
Incidentally, virtually every college in the U.S. offers a “risk, free, introductory period” for college classes. They’ve been in existence for decades.It’s called the Add/Drop Period.
victorl - September 13, 2010 at 6:56 pm
I tend to agree with “archman” on this. It sounds like one of those “risk-free” magazine offers. 10 weeks free! Send no money now! And if you’re not *completely* happy, you can return the invoice you’ll be sent and owe nothing.This sounds like a tax refund. I mean, if you really want to “give back” the money, how about not taking it all on the front end?Point #2: Follow the logic. Why make the introductory portions of their program free of charge? Isn’t it worth the money Kaplan charges? Or, actually, perhaps it isn’t. What if every student took only the “risk free” part of Kaplan’s program, and never paid anything? Is this what Kaplan thinks will happen? Probably not. They must suppose that students will be so happy and satisfied with their Kaplan experience that they will want to take the “high risk” part of Kaplan’s program, that doesn’t come with any money-back guarantee if students graduate qualified for precisely nothing except Chapter 11.I would prefer to see a company that stands behind the integrity and substance of its course offerings. If they deliver value, then they should charge for it, not apologize for it. The backpedeling suggests a value deficit.