Pros
At my location, there is a strong sense of family and camraderie. Most departments reach out and help the other departments, especially in student services and education. Most of the staff seem to truly care about the students.
Cons
The pay is miserable. The only plus is the Gift of Knowledge program that allows an employee to obtain an education while working and most, if not all, tuition is paid for. The only problem with that is that an employee is expected to maintain at least a 32 hour work week while attending school 20 hours per week plus studying. Then it is near impossible to attend sufficient hours of work and clinical rotations (which can range from 30-40 hours per week) and still remain sane. My manager was willing to work with me, but upper management does not make any attempt to help the employee as a student. Overtime is strictly forbidden unless prior approval is obtained from upper management. Instructors are expected to teach split shifts, complete attendance (and babysit their students by calling them if they weren't there) and grade papers in 40 hours per week, which is impossible. My instructors work over 60 hours per week, but are told to "modify" their timesheets to reflect appropriate hours that were approved. I have, in the past, been advised to modify my timesheet because overtime is not allowed, even if you have the workload the requires it. Yet, they give all employees duties that aren't required of their position because they are so concerned about money that they are short staffed and not willing to hire extra help. Kaplan's motto is "Students first" but really it should be "Number first." The only thing that matters in this business is numbers. Everyone has a budget to meet. I understand that money is important in a for-profit business, but if the quality was provided and students were put first, the money would follow. Don't enroll sub-par students, allowing just about anyone who walks in to start school. Admissions pushes so many people in "right under the wire", usually the day of or the day after the start, then that student ends up dropping the second week of class. They boast about small class sizes, yet we are bursting at the seams with almost 25-40 students per class, and not enough room to keep that many students per class or enough instructors to teach that many students. Our student population has almost doubled in the past year, yet our faculty numbers have stayed the same. It's not because they don't advertise; they just don't pay. They are expecting people from the field to come in and teach young minds, and take a paycut, and lose their life and sanity. I am looking forward to the day I can quit, have a life, and maybe even get paid overtime when I work it and get paid appropriately for the work I do.