Kaplan in the News

[Chebasaz]

I agree that this particular situation is a bad one, but I'd caution against labeling all nationally accredited schools as snake oil salesmen. Regional accreditation may be the gold standards in the US, but there is a place for other standards (National and DETC accreditation) as well. It depends on what your path is going to be.

If you plan on pursuing a graduate degree from a regionally accredited school, you'll need to go after a regionally accredited undergraduate degree.

If you plan on teaching after your graduate degree, you probably want to pursue one at a regionally accredited school.

However, if you just want the knowledge and an accredited degree, there is nothing wrong with National and DETC accreditation.

Speaking as someone who is in the labor force and personally hires degree holders; as long as they are recognized as accredited by the US Department of Education, regardless of the type of accreditation (Regional, National and DETC), then I'm fine with hiring them on against any position that requires the candidate to have a degree. Considering the Department of Defense is the one who holds me accountable for my hiring decisions, they're okay with any DoE recognized accreditation as well. After all, why wouldn't they be? It's the same government.

Here's a list of accrediting agencies from the DoE:

College Accreditation in the United States-- Pg 6

As I pointed out above, it all depends on what you plan on using the degree for and for future educational goals. Just as an FYI - This is not the first time Kaplan has landed in the news for similar issues:

Kaplan, Inc. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The thing to take away from all of this, at least in my opinion, is to be educated about your goals and how your choices will affect reaching them. My heart goes out to the woman in this story, but I wouldn't have taken Kaplan's word if I was in her situation. I would have checked with ASU first and gotten it in writing from them.

Edit: Spelling errors for the win!