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| Kaplan University KU, Kaplan Online, KU Online wrongfully denied me an education I was entitled to Internet, Internet |
| 6th of Nov, 2011 by User432081 |
| To date one Senator has shown passing interest, and KU was so gracious to forgive the newest/debated tuition I never owed, but that's it, I'm going to be out $25K+ and they get to walk laughing all the way to the bank. The other thing that burns my buns is that when the one advisor told me that because I'm white I wasn't entitled / eligible for ANY scholarships, despite my 4.0GPA at the time, if this had happened to anyone but me, there may have been outrage and help! All I can hope is that it helps new / upcoming students from going to a poorly administrated, overpriced school as opposed to attending an actual university with truly respected professors of the highest caliber. Until July 6, 2011, I was a baccalaureate student at Kaplan University (KU) Online Division, recently switched from a BSIT to a BS Paralegal Studies degree program. The reason I am attempting to bring my situation to your attention is because I feel that KU must be exposed for the fraud I believe it has and is committing, on myself, and more than likely many other students, in the U.S. and probably even those abroad. The trouble began when I was wrongfully suspended from KU Prior to filling that Student Complain/Appeal, I was told by Andrew Trenkle from the KU Returning Students Office, that if the KU Review Committee decided to allow me to return to classes at KU, I would not need to worry about financial aid since I am completely eligible for all FAFSA/Pell Grant and other aid, but that I would probably need to fill out new FAFSA/Pell Grant and/or other loan related documentation. I was reaccepted by the KU Review Committee, I believe on March 30th, but was not informed in any way of this until I initiated a call to Andrew Trenkle, at which time, he performed the necessary in-processing so that I was able to return to classes. This in-processing included sending me a Financial Award Letter that I was to sign and return to him with the full year of tuition. That was the only copy I signed. It stated that the full amount of tuition for the academic year would be $11,405.00 and that I would owe $0.00 as I was/am fully eligible for all aid. At the time of confirming that Andrew received this fax of my signed FA Award, he stated that the only stipulations would be that: A) I would have to maintain a 2.0GPA or above for an entire academic year and B) I would need to retake and pass the Statistics and PHP courses during the course of my current degree program. I was then allowed to complete my first two courses, Family Law and Paralegal Professional 101, which I passed with a 3.3/B+ in both courses, thereby meeting KU’s first requirement. During my time in these courses I signed up for future courses which included the Statistics course for the July 2011 term, and with a plan to complete the PHP course in Spring 2012. Now this is where I became confused, upset, and felt that as a poor American, I cannot afford private legal representation, so my only recourse was to throw myself at the mercy of my government officials, the court of public opinion and for KU to re-review its fraudulent actions (as follows…) I was contacted via email on Thursday, June 30, 2011 by Carol Moran, Financial Aid Support Advisor, which to my surprise was not in response to my earlier Educational Expense request, but, as you can see, is a demand for payment instead. I contacted KU through the number given in that request, but, of course, Carol Moran was not available and the young woman who I spoke with would not give me her name, but I did inform her three (3) times that I was recording our conversation just as KU records my conversations. She did not mind, but would not tell me why I was receiving this request for payment. Instead of responding to my inquiries to give me a full and valid explanation, she began to rhetorically repeat the following sentence, “You owe this payment to KU and must pay it†over and over, until I asked her to get a supervisor, then she said that a ‘Secret Committee’ decided that I owed it and they created a $3,810.00 bill that was due retroactively, but that she would put in a ticket to escalate it to a higher level to find out why this was the case since KU had already received payment. She said it was noted that I would owe this upon my return to the school. I explained that I had just returned to KU in the April 2011 term, had completed my courses and achieved the required grades and so that there should be no problem, that being fully eligible for all federal aid, I did not owe this, but would, of course, at the end of my time, when I achieved my degree, need to pay for all my student loans. She began to reiterate her rhetorical remark about owing money, so I asked for her name and said just in case I decided to sue KU, I would need her full name, she just started laughing, but I did not find my denial of education funny in the least, nor did I find KU’s fraudulent manner of attempting to double dip for funds from me that they most certainly had already received from FAFSA/Pell via Nelnet and IA State Grant-from the state I think. I spoke with a few other people at KU that next Monday and Tuesday, I recorded those calls as well, notifying them of it of course, with no opposition, save one person who hung up. Each of those Financial Aid Advisors all told me the same thing, there’s a ticket on this, just attend your July courses and we’ll work this all out. Well, I was not given that opportunity because, I was ready to attend my classes as of Wednesday, July 6, 2011, but at 3:36pm CST, I received an email from KU Student Accounts entitled Past Due Notification. This stated I had to pay $3,810.00 that was 60 days overdue. THIS is my total beef with KU, as I did not owe this, and even if I did, it was created that day so it certainly would NOT be overdue! As you can clearly see from the (FA Award 7-6-2011)—(Not shown in Ripoff Report as they don’t allow attached documents) KU has created a bill that shows a $13,665.00 tuition rather than the $11,405.00 I originally agreed to on my signed FA Award on April 6, 2011, this results in them stating retroactively that I owe $3,810.00 whichis derived by from the formula: falsified tuition, $13,665.00 – actual tuition, $11,405.00 = fraudulent amount, $2,260.00 + fraudulently denied Pell Grant for 2 terms @ $775.00, $1,550.00 = $3,810.00. Nevertheless, they used this flimsy excuse to deny me my education, because just one half-hour later, they sent me another email from KU Student Accounts, a Block Notification. This stated that because of my grossly overdue amount they had to block me out of classes until I coughed it up. It also falsely states that I was informed of this prior to 7-6-2011, which I was not, or I would not be writing this letter of appeal to all of you! Now, I did attempt to speak with one last person, but he was not willing to talk either, so this is why I am here imploring one or all of you to hopefully do he following suggested actions / resolutions: 1. Audit KU for fraudulent financial practices for FAFSA/Pell and other student loan/aid 2. Hold KU to the standards of academics that other colleges and universities are under 3. Get KU to retract the overdue on my account as it is not overdue, but I am willing to pay what I do owe in student loans as much as I can, I am not a rich woman, and now without the ability to complete my degree, I will be very hard pressed to pay what I owe, but somehow I will manage 4. Hopefully have the young woman that laughed at my dilemma take sensitivity training and/or I would like an apology from her regarding my distress I am not a greedy woman. Many people inspired me to try and work past my sad beginnings in a poor family and against insurmountable odds to obtain both my High School Diploma and GED when I was 31!! My drive for education and to better my life was strong and despite mishaps with APSU and UOP, I thought KU would be my final place to stick it out and obtain that, but all I received was a great slap in the digital face and a boot out the door. But for what? I still to this day have not been allowed to face my accusers / fate deciders this ‘Secret Review Committee’. But KU has now forever put me off higher education and destroyed my dream for a better life through their fraudulent acts, which seems to have been their aim, sad that some people in my family were all able to provide long-standing services in our government, but I am being systematically denied even an education. I can only hope the $25,000+ that I must repay, and the degree that I now must sacrifice, will not be in vain, but that one or more of you on this list will look into these practices and save other / future students from the same fate. The ball now rests in your court(s) and I am placing my faith in your ability to right this situation and bring honor to our educational system again, not through playing favorites or special favor, but through the honest, solid enforcement of standing law, rules, regulations, and even KU’s own policies, which, as you can see in my Student Complaint/Appeal did not really allow them to kick me out in 2010 in the first place, which was why I felt it was a vendetta against me from that time on, but still hoping someone, somewhere, somehow will tell me why. I thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read/review my situation and to let you know any help at all is fully appreciated. P.S. Here is an excerpt and URL for a New York Times article dated 11-10-2010 that states you, in Congress have already been made well aware of KU’s fraudulent acts against innocent students: “But over the last few months, Kaplan and other for-profit education companies have come under intense scrutiny from Congress, amid growing concerns that the industry leaves too many students mired in debt, and with credentials that provide little help in finding jobs.†~ Tamar Lewin New York Times 11/10/2010 |
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