Test prep companies at legal odds

Students fighting for points on graduate admissions exams is a common occurrence. But, now, the test preparation companies are doing some fighting of their own. Earlier this month, The Princeton Review filed suit in Federal Court against Kaplan Educational Centers, claiming that the score improvements advertised in Kaplan's new ads are not supported by valid documentation. The Princeton Review alleges that Kaplan's ads show a high score in bold print, but explain in small print that the score mentioned should not be taken as an indication of actual improvement, said Kristen Boldon, The Princeton Review's executive director of its Philadelphia Office. Jonathon Grayer, Chief Operating Officer at Kaplan,said he thinks The Princeton Review assumes their customers are not capable of reading the ads carefully enough to see the explanation. "They are assuming that our customers are unintelligent and are not going to be discerning readers," Grayer said. In its suit, The Princeton Review said this ad campaign, which was set to appear in this month's issue of U.S. News and World Report, violates the agreement the two companies had not to make any claims about average score improvements in their ads without the proper documentation. But Grayer said Kaplan feels its campaign has nothing to do with average score improvements. He said the ad tells students they can take a free refresher course if they do not improve as much as the ad promises. As for the lack of proper documentation, Grayer said Price Waterhouse, a well-renowned accounting firm, is currently researching the score improvements. The firm will announce its results as soon as it has the numbers. John Katzman, president of The Princeton Review, said he thinks this campaign illustrates the difference between the two organizations. "Rather than admitting that its courses are far less effective than ours, Kaplan simply misleads the students," he said. Katzman said that as a result of the lawsuit, Kaplan promised to alter its ads before they appear in the magazine, and agreed to pull their new campaign. According to Grayer, the only change made was the addition of the words "No one can guarantee a particular score," on the top of each ad, which the company had no problem with doing. "This program has nothing to do with average score claims," he said. "Just giving the customer the best course for the best value." The two companies will meet in court April 25.

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