Florida Woman: "Kaplan University Promised To Send The Money Back - But They Didn't"

by Carol Scott · 2011-03-16 05:30:00 UTC
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A growing number of students are coming forward to share their negative experiences at Kaplan University, the for-profit college owned by the Washington Post Company.

To better tell their stories, Change.org is publishing one Kaplan account every day for one week. These students are part of a group of former students urging the Washington Post to stop preying on low-income students (sign their petition here). The below accounts are students' descriptions of their experiences.

Marjorie Etienne, Royal Palm Beach, Florida
Kaplan student from March 2007 to November 2010

"When I started at Kaplan, I was not eligible for financial aid (my previous loan was in default and I had just started making payments). I told my recruiter that I was not eligible but he told me not to worry, I was eligible for grants, scholarships and personal student loans.

I did apply for student loans and borrowed more than $8,000 in private loans in 2007 and more after that. Every once in a while, Kaplan would tell me that my financial aid was insufficient, but the amount I had to pay out of pocket was always $50 or $60, here and there.

Well, in July 2010, a few weeks before I was supposed to complete my studies, the emails started, telling me that I was past due and would be blocked from finishing my degree. At first I ignored them, because my financial aid records showed that I had paid everything I owed to Kaplan. After receiving at least 3 emails a day for a week, the calls started. The person I spoke to said that I had a past due balance of $810 and needed to pay it immediately if I didn't want to be locked out of my classes.

I refused to pay and made several calls, each one of them a disaster - I was put on hold for over an hour, or 'lost communication' with who I was speaking to. When I finally talked to someone, they said I had another past due amount of $1,000 for 2009. I then was told if I wanted to finish my education, I would have to take another personal loan or sign up for the 'Kaplan Choice Loan.' I did -- but in September, I was once again told that I owed $560 more and the process started again.

In December, I was told that all of the extra money I'd paid them wasn't necessary, because now I was over my balance, not under. They promised to send the money back - but they didn't. They told me that they sent it to Citibank to pay off a previous loan debt, but they won't send me proof that Citibank has received the money, and the amount of student debt I owe has not been reduced. I now owe more than $52,000."

[Postscript: After Marjorie asked for help from the Florida State Department of Education, Citibank and the Florida Attorney General, the extra money she paid was refunded to her. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and is working on paying off the rest of her $52,000 debt.]

Photo credit: Cell105 via Flickr
Carol Scott is the Education Editor for Change.org.

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