The pay is very low relative to the level of teaching quality expected by Kaplan. You get rated by your students, and Kaplan expects you to get very high ratings. I get $19 per hour for teaching or tutoring (i.e., for face-to-face contact time with students), $12 per hour for proctoring a practice exam, $15 per hour for corresponding with students, and minimum wage for prepping for tutoring and classroom sessions. Prepping is the bulk of my hours.
Kaplan requires you to track time worked in 5 minute increments so if you spend 5 minutes responding to a student via e-mail you earn .08 * $15, despite the disruption to your day.
My commutes to teaching venues are long. Classes typically start at 5:30 pm or 6:30 pm weeknights. This is rush hour, so I need to allow 1 to 1 1/4 hour to get to the venue on time, and then 1/2 hour to get home once the class ends. So I might be commuting 1 3/4 hours round trip for a 2 1/2 or 3 hour class that pays $19 per hour if I am teaching or $12 per hour if I am proctoring a practice exam.
In addition to low pay and long commutes, Kaplan requires you to provide your own electronic devices to do the job but provides no compensation. You are an hourly Kaplan employee but need to use your own computer, phone, internet service, and printer to access teaching materials, send and receive e-mail, and meet with your manager or mentor on Skype or Google Hangouts. (Kaplan does allow you to expense office supplies such as white board markers.)
Finally, to get hired, I had to sign a non-compete agreement saying I would not work for a Kaplan competitor or offer my own test prep services for a period of one year after separation from Kaplan.
