The state of California’s community college system has terminated a controversial plan that would allow their students to fulfill some of their courses at the online Kaplan University, a for-profit institution. State community officials reason that they canceled the 2009 deal because the University of California and the Cal State University systems had not agreed to accept Kaplan courses for transfer credits.
Without the agreements, Kaplan online education proves to be harmful for students who plan on transferring to a UC or Cal State. Furthermore, the plan was intended in part to provide students of community colleges a way to take courses that might have been canceled or overcrowded due to the state budget cuts. However, Kaplan planned to charge students $646, including discount, for a three-credit class that they could take for only $78 at a community college. Jane Patton, president of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC), released a statement praising the termination while claiming that the ASCCC has been greatly concerned about potential negative effects from the Kaplan education deal.