Kaplan University

This is the worst school in the world. I, too, was mislead and told my last week that I could basically do nothing with my degree. I was told instead that I was a "nutritionist." I then enrolled in an actual accredited university and had to leave because I ran out of financial aid due to Kaplans tuition. I feel utterly useless.

When less than thenty-nine percent of reviews result in a positive assessment of any program, one might think that the responsible organization's leadership would appropriately close down the program. The initial review that could be accessed was pleading for people to understand the negative reviews! That means since it was the earliest review of the 14 online that could be accessed (dated in 2008), that there had to have been others before this one was posted. It is shameful that any school would market a degree program to prospective students as a legitimate, credible career opportunity for a health service discipline that strives to improve the health of those we serve. IF Kaplan really believed that their program would be competitive in the world we live in, then they would have already taken the appropriate steps to be accredited so that their graduates would see a genuine return on their investment(ROI). Only 4 of 14 accessible reviews received at least 3 out of 5 stars... that is sad.

I am about to enroll in the Kaplan BS in Nutrition Science program. I am well aware that this is not a dietician program. It's in writing on the course description page. I don't want to be a dietician. I did consider it, but it seems to be nearly impossible. I am currently living in Korea due to my husband's job and the hoops I would have to jump through to become an RD would just be too much. I'm not able to rate most of the categories because I haven't attended any classes yet. I'm also going in with an associates degree. I hope the classes I will not have to take will weed out any person who just doesn't understand how college works.

I dropped my program because even after I sent out materials begging for support and had documented proof, I was left to struggle on my own. I received minimal support when I had any questions regarding my education, and if I received report, it was after I completed the work. I was criticized for not working hard enough when I spent all of my time working on my classes. The class materials, especially in the Composition classes, constantly contradict themselves, and it was never acknowledged when I pointed out those mistakes. It is a valid theory that most people giving Kaplan excellent reviews are already high- grade students and probably never needed any extra support. I was afraid to send my materials, but I sent them because I did not want to fail classes due to my circumstances. I was failing in second term before I dropped out, and only then, did I get any support for the various departments to get back to me within a timely manner. Kaplan University is a good school, but anyone who needs or expects extra academic support and social interaction should stay away and lean more towards a traditional university setting.

It is true that Kaplan gives MUCH higher grades (GPA) to students compare to any traditional or REAL universities. They enroll ineligible students to keep up their profits, that is why any credit transfers or eligible for getting a license will not be possible from this university. I have completed my B.S in nutrition science with 3.91, which no way i could be able to get this in other traditional universities like California state university. As far as education level goes, Kaplan university is no way even near of providing a graduate level education. Also, their classes are not transferable to other REAL accredited colleges or universities where you can actually apply for a nutrition license in future. Their fees are also very high for the level of education they provide. It clearly shows a sign of business where profit is their main concern, not education. THE TRUE EDUCATION IS ONLY ACHIEVED THROUGH TRADITIONAL WAY (FACE TO FACE) AND THROUGH NON-PROFIT COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES. Currently, for me that degree paper is a piece of trash, which i cant use it in any way. It is possible you can get a nutrition related job (non-license), but you will be required a lot of clinical experience. Another negative factor, you would be considered least in value from all eligible applicants, when you apply for a job. Best of luck for all of those who seek for real degrees.

I knew from day 1 I wasn't going to become an accredited dietician. I knew from day 1 that I will have to transfer and graduate from a traditional college. It's one of those degrees that require extra steps like internship hours and even more continuing education. Anyone who says they "did their research" and were surprised to find out they could not get accredited at kaplan is full of it. Online school isn't easier or harder than a traditional school. Most of the professors I've had have been wonderful and work in the Fields they teach. Generally speaking the projects aren't well written and vague. More often than not the professors are aware of it but it's just the way things are written. My biggest problem with Kaplan is not the Professors or the college but my fellow students. Most of my classmates are, well, dumb. They're stay-at-home housewives or exchange students. Never anyone my own age, never anyone without 5 kids. It's the most problematic in lower level classes and classes on history or art. The Library is atrocious. When I first started at Kaplan it was easy to understand but now I can't even really use it without problems. It seems like every semester they are messing with something. Tech support is ok. The few problems I have had were fixed quickly. Student support has always been helpful for me. I can usually tell immediately if Professors are going to rub me the wrong way and usually I'm allowed to switch teachers. I know it would seem that an online school would be cheaper but it really isn't. If you are like me and can't attend a "traditional" college Kaplan is great. Yes, if you decide to do the nutrition science and you want to be a dietitian you WILL HAVE TO TRANSFER YOUR FINAL YEAR TO A TRADITIONAL COLLEGE. You will also have to do internships and jump through all sorts of other hoops...no matter what college you choose to go to. There are sooo many other things you can do other than a dietician. Nutrition is a huge field of study! Pediatrics, physical therapy, cancer, home health, front office, your own practice, sports nutrition, geriatric nutrition...The key is to really get down deep and figure out what you want to specialize in. Whatever college you choose, whatever major you pick, it really comes down to a personal responsibility to really do your research on the career you want. Don't get mad at Kaplan.

I really wish that I could say more good than bad things about my Kaplan experience. Understandably the bad taste is left by not having my degree and not having any financial aid left to finish my degree either. It is true that their financial aid and admissions advisors are inconsistent, to be kind about it. So are the professors, or should I call them "facilitators"?! Most of the people teaching at Kaplan are not teachers or professors and they openly admit that when you ask them what you should refer to them as. I had a few that seemed to really care, unfortunately I had more that were obviously biased and leaned toward the students that "got it" than toward the strugglers and newcomers like myself. I had a lot of questions and confusion being new to the field of anatomy and physiology and instead of being embraced and welcomed more times than not I felt like a nuisance when I didn't get it or asked a lot of questions. Often times there was obvious bias when I was ignored during the classes and it was blamed on lag time even though other students would point out that I was asking a question, that's when you know it's not just you. To top it off, I would be forced to re-take a course if I annoyed someone and they would grade me .02 under a "C" and I would never receive a response when I challenged the grade on the 2 occasions it happened. I was charged the FULL PRICE AGAIN!!! That's 2 courses that I would not be able to afford later on. Do you know how many credits I'm short of my degree and have no recourse now? Let's just say it hurts. Then like many before me, do to financial reasons I had to take a LOA and thought I had planned it well, having spoken to financial aid all through November and December believing I would be good through the Spring semester (staying on top of FA) only to find out that I would not have enough to get through the Spring semester and was being billed in January so that I would be able to take FT courses throughout. It's already too much to go on, the fact is I put everything I had into learning the material, dealing with obvious bias on the part of the facilitators, staying on top of financial aid, speaking continuously with the advisers and it did not matter. I still got screwed. IF YOU HAVE ANOTHER OPTION TAKE IT!!! KAPLAN IS NOT THE BEST ONE THERE IS SO LOOK AROUND. MAKE SURE YOU ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT GRADING, ESPECIALLY IN THE HEALTH SCIENCES!!! DON'T SIGN ANYTHING WITHOUT READING THE FINE PRINT!!! ALL OF IT!!!

My advisor has been so awesome with helping me figure all this university business out. I want to be a nutritionist, therefor I am taking nutrition science to get my bs and be a nutritionist. I can't believe how many of you are [mad] because you didn't do your reading. It clearly states that this program is Not CADE approved and is not qualified to get you tested to be a dietician. I have the most helpful and honest advisor who told me everything up front and gave me the catalog to read the fine print for myself. As with any other school, you have to do 900 hours on your own without Kaplans help. You should have done your reading, its all there.

This is school is terrible. They are not helpful at all with educational or career information. They couldn't be any less informative and don't care as long as they get their money. Continued to call me for a $20 payment that I had made multiple times and each of the different offices couldn't get on the same page. They ended up refunding my money but I could have done without the threating phone calls. They forgot to sign me up for a class and postpone my graudation date and ended up messing out on a job opportunity. If I worked for this school I would be ashamed to represent it. I DO NOT RECOMMENED THIS SCHOOL TO ANYONE FRIEND OR ENEMY!!!!

The BS in nutrition science is good if u don't want to be a dietician. Its is not CADE approved which means its worthless as a degree if one wants to be a dietician. The advisors didn't tell me this when getting started and all the paperwork done. I just found out its not CADE approved and won't be wasting my time finishing the paperwork to start courses there. Don't waste your time on this university or at least research it before filling out paperwork.

I read the poor reviews of Kaplan's financial aid department and student accounts department in the online review websites. I thought to myself, "these must be written by people who can't follow instructions". Boy was I wrong. Instead of financing my education, I paid in full prior to the term start date. Even though I owed nothing, I received calls and emails several times each month requesting a payment and threatening to lock me out of the online portal if a payment was not sent. After numerous calls to Student Accounts, I appealed to the president of the university. He quickly assigned a member of his staff to investigate and assist. After a call from his staff, it appeared things had been handled to my satisfaction. My assessment was incorrect! Now here we are at the end of the second term for this academic year and the calls for a payment have started again, EVEN THOUGH THE ACCOUNT IS PAID IN ADVANCE THRU THE END OF THE NEXT (third) TERM. The administration and financial practices of Kaplan University appear to be unorganized and chaotic. I do not recommend Kaplan because Financial Aid, Student Accounts, and University Administration are inept. Based on my experience, you will spend nearly as much time on the phone trying to get your account straight as you spend in the classroom/online. STAY AWAY!!

I registered 6 weeks ago- faxed ALL documents, had to get the FAFSA people on the phone because they couldn't access my FAFSA...??? EVERY week they have asked for documents they have and then wanted more and I have had enough- they are not supportive at all, the emails were sent to ALL the email addresses I had and now, when I am withdrawing, they didn't get one...whatever- I have never had so many issues with a school and have been to several, for different things over the last 25 years!

I was told my tuitions are covered by one of the agents in KU. After taking the course for a month, I received a bill which said that I have to pay more than $1000.00. I tried to contact with the agent or the counselor; none of them responded the phone call or the e-mail I sent out. I don't think it is a real university because the contact information I got from the agents or the counselor wasn't the right number when I called. I will never recommend this Kaplan university to any of the people I know. I wasted my money just being admitted in the university

Current Senior at Kaplan. I would have to say that if you have the option to go to a "normal" college, do that instead. I happen to love the school because I am a military wife with kids and we move a lot. Its great if you need the school at your finger tips, it has its changelles, but its WORTH EVERY PENNY if thats what you NEED. If you don't need it, and you can go to school, then go to school instead. PS. I've been to other schools and the workload from at Kaplan is about the same as the other ones, its just self paced.

I was seriously considering going to this institution but I can tell you that these were the MOST irritating people on the face of the earth! My so called advisor would call me up until midnight all through out the week and weekend. I got my cell phone bill back and it was outrageous and it was all due to irritating calls. I pulled out of the program a week before I was suppose to start and now I am attending a higher institution and haven't gotten one single call from them. RECONSIDER YOUR OPTIONS BEFORE ATTENDING THIS INSTITUTION.

Please listen to all of the negative reviews out there and beware before you make a mistake! Here is my story... I would like to become a Registered Dietitian and have done quite a bit of research into the profession. Believing that a degree in Nutrition Science would be beneficial to me, I began looking into online programs to help me acheive my goal. At first, I believed Kaplan University to be a good choice. In addition to being a stay-at-home mother that would need a flexible schedule, I am also a US Army Veteran wanting to use my GI Bill benefits. Kaplan offered reasonable rates and a good discount for vets -- all in all, my GI Bill would completely cover the cost of this degree. I spoke with an Academic Advisor and told her of my desire to become a Registered Dietitian. She said I had made a great choice and then proceeded to tell me that she was a Dietitian herself -- she even detailed the work she had done before being employed by Kaplan. Great! It seemed as if I had made a good, sound choice so I decided to go ahead with enrollment. I paid my enrollment fee and registered for classes. However, soon after I registered for my classes, I receive an email from a DIFFERENT Advisor stating that Kaplan's Nutrition Science program is not CADE-approved and that I would not be eligible for the requisite 900-hour internship and certification test upon completion of my degree. In effect, the Nutrition Science degree I was going to earn was useless to me. I would have to re-take most of my courses from a CADE-approved school. I immediately canceled my classes and requested that my enrollment also be canceled. While stating my reasons for cancellation, I was told that I had never made my career intentions clear, otherwise my Advisor would have immediately informed me that the school was not CADE-approved. This was a complete and utter LIE!!! My Advisor and I spoke at length about this profession -- during three seperate 1.5 hour phone calls -- as well as going over documentation I had to sign stating my understanding of the 900-hour internship (which, by the way, made no mention of the lack of CADE approval). WHY would have had to sign this document if I never intended to become a Registered Dietitian? I was compeltely misled and deliberately deceived. I understand and accept that it was ultimately my responsibility to ensure the school I attended was CADE-approved and to seek a different school should it lack approval, but I also believe it to be the duty of the school (and especially the advising staff) to inform its prospective students that the program they will attend does not contain the proper certifications/approvals necessary to reach their career goals. Kaplan failed at this duty -- miserably -- and I caution anyone trying to get their degree: LOOK ELSEWHERE! As I have since found out, there are many other online universities that will be able to help you.