The Washington Post runs some charter schools, most of them via the aptly named Kaplan Virtual Education, a subsidiary that runs charter schools in six states that affords kids the awesome opportunity to attend school entirely on the Internet after fifth grade. I do not know how this works or who decided that was a reasonable idea, but with so many states and municipalities more broke than the newspaper industry, I can’t imagine that such a low-overhead method of educating the next generation would not represent a “growth industry.” And that is good news for the Washington Post Company, because the online college degree business that comprises the biggest chunk of its revenue stream—about 60,000 of Kaplan Higher Education’s 65,000 enrolled customers in 2009 were online students—is under serious fire. Ninety-one percent of the division’s annual revenues come from federally-guaranteed student loans, but only 28% of Kaplan alumni are paying them back. That’s because they can’t find jobs, even though getting a job is the only reason anyone ever signed up for an online college degree to begin with. With dismal statistics like that, you’d think Kaplan would have to do a lot of lying to get people to enroll in its programs, and you would be right, as the undercover GAO investigators learned when they talked to recruiters:

For the rest of the article, go to How The Washington Post Cheers On As The Washington Post Company Destroys Education

Kaplan Virtual Education (KVE), a leader in online high school and online middle school, announced enrollment deadlines for students interested in attending online high school this fall at Kaplan Academies in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

(Vocus) June 3, 2010 — Kaplan Virtual Education (KVE), a leader in online high school and online middle school, announced enrollment deadlines for students interested in attending online high school this fall at Kaplan Academies in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

“Kaplan Academies provide a challenging curriculum with a flexible schedule,” said Charles Thornburgh, president of Kaplan Virtual Education. “Over the years, a variety of students including those pursuing careers in professional athletics or the arts have benefited from our first-rate online education program.”

The state-by-state enrollment deadlines for Kaplan’s online high schools are as follows:

• Kaplan Academy of Colorado – deadline August 3

• Kaplan Academy of Washington – deadline August 16

• Kaplan Academy of Idaho – deadline August 17

• Kaplan Academy of Oregon – deadline August 24

Teachers at Kaplan Academies are certified and offer online high school students one-on-one attention by communicating with the students via email, instant messaging, and phone. Teachers also use video, audio, and animation to provide an engaging learning environment.

For the rest of the article, go to Kaplan’s Online High Schools Announces Fall Admission Deadlines