Kaplan College in Chesapeake closes

by Lucy Bustamante, 13News

WVEC.com

Posted on January 14, 2013 at 5:03 PM

Updated today at 6:47 PM

CHESAPEAKE-- After being back from holiday break for two days, students at Kaplan College of Chesapeake said administrators told them their school was closing.

Angela Gaskins says students were told in September that school was closing in March of 2014 and were promised they would gradate with their class in 2013, but on Jan. 10 it was closed. ?

Kaplan arranged for a bus to take students to an orientation session at Everest College, 2.3 miles away, where they would be able to start school January 22nd.

Gaskins says she felt lied to, that communication was poor and she felt cheated out of time to choose what to do next.

Gaskins also worried about how this would affect her GI Bill. The VA paid the school nearly $5,000 a semester towards her associate's degree.

Jamecia Robinson said she was told Dec. 19, while she turned in homework, that that day would be her last day of school.

"It was so distasteful. It makes me suspicious of why they pushed so hard to get me to enroll through the GI Bill," Robinson said.?

Anne Walker, with the State Approving Agency of Veteran Education and Training, said that the "teach out" plan they have from Kaplan states closure as March of 2014.

Walker found out Kaplan of Chesapeake was closing after 13News called her boss in Washington D.C.

"I don't know what happened in the corporation that made them change their plan," Walker said.

Walker's office scrambled to contact GI Bill students to make sure their transition to their next school was seamless.

Walker reports to have contacted all students affected for this Kaplan class, including Jamecia Robinson.

Robinson says under their watchful eye her GI Bill money was refunded from Kaplan back to the VA.

Abdrea Roebker with Kaplan tells 13News, "We are working with the VA, students and Everest to ensure all payments are expedited quickly and processed appropriately for the parties involved."

Kaplan's public relations representative Abdrea Roebker released this statement:

"The transition is occurring now because our diploma students were completing a module/term this week; that makes it a natural time for this transition to occur, and avoids any delays for our students who are continuing with their education. It is also important to remember that this was not sprung on our students; it follows an earlier (September 2012) announcement when we informed our students that Kaplan College Chesapeake would be closing. We decided on this course of action because we anticipated that job opportunities for these students in their chosen field would not be as plentiful in the local marketplace as they had been previously."

Source: http://www.wvec.com/news/local/Kaplan-College-in-Chesapeake-Closes-186836752.html

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