Kaplan Releases Details of Its Debt-Free Trial Program

Kaplan Higher Education is today announcing its "Kaplan Commitment" program, which it first unveiled this month while urging the U.S. Education Department to revise proposed regulations on the "gainful employment" of graduates of for-profit career programs. Under the new program, students at Kaplan University, Kaplan College or other Kaplan Higher Education schools will be able to enroll in classes for several weeks and assess whether the Kaplan coursework meets their educational needs before making a financial commitment. Kaplan will also conduct various assessments to help determine whether students are likely to be successful. The changes respond to critics of for-profit higher education who have said that some institutions encourage students to enroll -- paying tuition in large part with federal grants and loans -- in programs they are unlikely to complete. Students who withdraw from these Kaplan courses early will not have to pay for their coursework, and they need not receive the federal loans they would obtain to take the courses.