Kaplan Publishing Company, owner of the Real Estate Education Company, is launching a new online university for the real estate industry - KaplanCollege.com - that will incorporate some of the best known names in real estate education on the day it opens for business.

The site will compete with existing online real estate schools Real Estate University and Realtor University.

The site will officially launch April 17 and will features instructors including Diana Brouthers, who will teach on marketing to Baby Boomers; and Roger Turcotte, who will offer a course on real estate negotiating.

Also on the site will be courses taught by Saul Klein and John Reilly - authors, educators and founders of the Internet Crusade Web site and hosts of popular industry chat line, RealTalk and others.

Two years ago Kaplan bought out Dearborn Financial Publishing company, which had owned Real Estate Education Company. Some authors from the Dearborn stable will be featured in the online university.

According to Harley Unger, Kaplan director of business development, Web site courses will cost about $60 per class, although free classes will be offered to those who register in the first month.

The first flight of classes will focus on "personal professional development," rather than continuing education offerings. Most of the actual online CE courses will be offered on sister site REcampus.com.

According to Bill Rosenthal, head of KaplanCollege.com, "Our aim is to provide high-quality, convenient and interactive learning to people whose lives are saturated with work or family responsibilities. By offering our programs online, we can make high quality education accessible and convenient for all working professionals."

Unger said the online classes will be instructor-led through use of message boards and focused chatlines. Basic educational materials will be posted on the Web site.

Unger conceded that while current use of online educational sites is quit small, she projected that within three years 25 percent of continuing and professional education will be conducted online and within five years that number will grow to 50 percent.

Although the courses themselves are comparable to live seminar instruction, the major savings, she said, would come in opportunity costs.

"You don't have to take time out of your day to take a class," she said. "You can keep selling real estate. You don't have to travel anywhere to take the course, and incur all those expenses. And we feel the education is just as good as what you'd receive (in live classroom settings.)"

When the site officially launches, students will find nearly 500 courses covering subjects from nursing, to law to general business management.

Published: April 4, 2000

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