I just got word today that
Kaplan’s tuition is increasing again starting next month. This time the tuition is going up by $15 per credit hour from $305 to $320. It seems that they raise the tuition twice a year. I don’t recall exactly what the tuition was when I started in 2003, but I am thinking the overall increase has been somewhere in the neighborhood of a $100.00 per credit hour over that time period. What that said, I cannot think of any significant changes to the content or delivery of the material. I guess it’s just a fact of life that the cost of everything increases with time. All I know is that my company allots me $5300 a year in tuition. When I first started at Kaplan, I was able to pay for 3 classes with some money left over for the 4th. Now I can only pay for 2.7 classes per year before the allotment is gone.
What this means is if a student starts at Kaplan University now, they can expect to pay at least $57,600 for an undergraduate degree, providing they have no credits to transfer into the program. Let’s compare that with
Walden University. Under the same circumstances, a new student will expect to pay $43,200 for an undergraduate degree at $240.00 per credit.
Capella University is sitting right in the middle at $52,200 ($290.00 per hour) for a four-year degree.
The current cost of Kaplan’s standard MBA program is currently $395 per credit hour for 66 hours. That comes to $26,070. Walden University charges $23,040 for their MBA program, so there is not much of a price difference there. But what a student needs to keep in mind is that there are AACSB-accredited schools offering the online MBA for a lot cheaper than these schools. I’ve found some as little as $14,000. But also keep in mind that there are others that cost upwards of $40,000. It’s all about preference. Do your homework and make the right choice.
Kaplan is not the cheapest degree on the block. It was not the cheapest when I started. But overall, I am pretty happy with what I’ve received. All but two instructors have been very helpful and engaging, and any issues I’ve brought to the attention if the management have been addressed for the most part. Online education is a performance-based business with a marketing machine behind it. This is OK with me, but one must keep that in mind when choosing a school.
I just wish that I could get some kind of explanation as to why the cost is rising. If someone sells a product increases in cost by several thousand dollars over a three year period, I would want to know why. They don’t have to build new facilities. Books haven’t increased that much. I only have to assume that like any other company, they report to the shareholders (Kaplan is owned by the Washington Post) and they have to maintain a certain level of growth in the way of profit margins. One can only wonder.