Kaplan attended Mount Pleasant High School in Wilmington, Delaware, graduating in 1977. Kaplan graduated with a bachelor"s degree in journalism from East. West. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University in 1982 and later graduated with a master"s degree in journalism from the school in 1998.
In 1999 he became a faculty member at the University of Florida. In April 2008 Kaplan was named a Fulbright Scholar. The same year, Kaplan was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a condition which is in remission as of 2011 after treatment.
Kaplan has reported his experience with cancer in an award-winning documentary film entitled "Not As I Pictured".
