Kaplan reviews

3.6

66% would recommend to a friend

(2,588 total reviews)

Andrew S. Rosen

77% approve of CEO

64% positive business outlook

Kaplan has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 2,588 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Kaplan employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

3K reviews
5.0
Jan 17, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They have the backing of the Washington Post, have a phenomenally supportive management group while allowing autonomy in day to day decision making, terrific benefits and flexible schedule. They also have great training systems in place as well, and great technology.

Cons

Pay is lower than others in similar industries, but the flexiblity in scheduling and annual bonus compensation are great. Some of the hours can get crazy as well with nights and weekends when needed.

3.0
Jan 15, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You get to create your own schedule for the most part. As a student, this is a GREAT job because you can do all of your prep work from home whenever you want and even get paid for any out-of-class time if you are an instructor. It is also great to be in such a highly academic environment with so many intellectual peers, particularly if you are in school or studying for a graduate school entrance exam yourself.

Cons

Out-of-class time is paid at minimum wage, which isn't particularly enticing. If you are looking for a career or trying to turn your part-time job into a full-time position, Kaplan is probably not the place for you because Kaplan does not always value its employees. There is a very high turnover rate in the staff. Classes may be canceled due to low enrollment, so you never know if you are going to get the hours that you were promised. Raises are based on evaluations by your students, so you may not be getting compensated fairly in that way as well, particularly if you are teaching high schoolers who do not know how to evaluate their teachers accurately.

2.0
Jan 10, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The colleagues on the academic side of Kaplan's business are excellent: interesting, diverse, sophisticated, highly educated, very smart... cool people that are fun to get to know. The product itself is strong: it is a pleasure to deliver the curriculum, which does deliver what it promises to deliver: higher scores on standardized tests for students who follow the regimen. There is no shame in teaching for Kaplan. There is a good deal of scheduling flexibility, too, at least on the academic side of the business.

Cons

There is a huge emphasis on quantitative analysis in a business that is, in some aspects, quite 'soft'... and, just as "No Child Left Behind" fails in its effort to quantify learning and measure the quality of teaching in our public schools, so too does Kaplan fail to effectively measure the performance of its faculty. Unfortunately, compensation increases are based entirely on this poor measurement. While my main work for the company has been in academics, I also have experience in working on the marketing side of the business. Having worked previously in business development, I can say that, while there are some talented creative people at top levels in the company, the marketing program is awful, at least on the regional level. There is a huge disconnect between the front-line employees (sales and customer service people at the centers as well as teachers in the classrooms) and headquarters at 1440 Broadway. Finally, there is a definite "Old Boy" mentality in the company: very few women are in senior positions, and there are decidedly sexist (and perhaps ageist) attitudes among upper and upper-middle managers. One prime offender actually stated an opinion that an on-campus promotion would succeed only if "8 pairs of t*ts" were used to staff the event! Yes, this happened in the 21st century...

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