For-profit college compensates students

A for-profit college in North Carolina said it has surrendered its license to operate a dental assistance program and compensated hundreds of students. Kaplan College in Charlotte, N.C., said it has provided refunds to some 200 students to cover the cost of tuition, books and fees, the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported. The college is also giving each of the dental program's graduates $9,000 stipends while they work to get their certifications. The North Carolina Board of Community Colleges began investigating Kaplan's Charlotte campus last year after students discovered they would not graduate with the kind of dental assistant certifications that school officials had promised. The agency probe was dropped after Kaplan asked to surrender its dental program license but the North Carolina Attorney General's office is conducting its own investigation. Janice Block, Kaplan's chief national compliance officer, said the college has gone "above and beyond" what's required to make sure all of the students are completely satisfied. Block said the company is spending "well over $1 million" on refunds. Tuition and fees for the dental assistant program were more than $18,000 per year.