Kaplan, Inc.

Following several years of significant enrollment decline, Graham Holdings sold Kaplan University to the Purdue University system for one dollar in March 2018, who rebranded the institution as Purdue University Global. In exchange, Purdue agreed to employ Kaplan, Inc. as the exclusive provider of nonacademic functions for thirty years, with a six year buyout option, and Kaplan, Inc. agreed to assume responsibility for liabilities resulting before the transaction.[4] According to the contract terms, Kaplan receives 12.5 percent of the university's revenue, as long as funds are available after all operating expenses and guaranteed payments to Purdue have been covered. Purdue Global offers multiple credentials including certificates, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees primarily online.[5]

In February 2020, Graham Holdings Company reported that Purdue University Global owed Kaplan Higher Education $68.4 million for services and deferred fees and $18.6 million for an advance from the Kaplan University transaction.[6] Despite spending a reported $132 million dollars in marketing, more than $4,400 per enrolled student,[7] and four times their competitor SNHU,[7] enrollments at Global have remained virtually flat. As of 2019, Global has reported $61 million dollars in losses from operations.

Kaplan Professional assists professionals' career development by obtaining professional licenses, designations, and certifications, including the insurance, securities, mortgage and appraisal licensing exams, and for advanced designations, such as CFA® and CPA exams. Kaplan Professional serves more than 10,000 business-to-business clients worldwide, offering professional development services tailored to their individual needs. In 2018, approximately 480,000 students used Kaplan Professional's exam preparation offerings.[1]

Kaplan Schweser provides review materials for certification programs in finance, including the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) examinations. Through the Schweser Institute, Kaplan Schweser also offers certification programs of its own.

Kaplan International operates businesses in Europe and the Asia Pacific region.[8] A research report commissioned by NAFSA: Association of International Educators identified Kaplan Global Pathways as one of the eight third-party providers offering intensive English preparation programs with academic credit for international students in the United States.[9]

In Europe, Kaplan International operates the following businesses, all of which are based in the UK and Ireland: Kaplan UK, Kaplan Pathways, Kaplan International English, and a set of higher education institutions.

• Kaplan UK provides training, test preparation services and degrees for accounting and financial services professionals, including those studying for ACCA, CIMA and ICAEW qualifications. In addition, Kaplan UK provides legal and professional training. In 2018, Kaplan UK provided courses to approximately 50,000 students in accounting and financial services. Kaplan UK is headquartered in London, and has 21 training centers.[1]
• Kaplan International English comprises a university pathways business and an English-language training business.
  • The university pathways business offers academic preparation programs for international students who wish to study in English-speaking countries. In 2018, university preparation programs were being delivered in Australia, China, Japan, Nigeria, Singapore, the UK and the US, serving 12,000 students in partnership with over 40 universities.
  • The KI English business provides English-language training, academic preparation programs and test preparation for English proficiency exams, principally for students wishing to study and travel in English-speaking countries. It operates a total of 37 English-language schools, with 19 located in the UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and 18 located in the US. During 2018, the English-language business served approximately 36,000 students for in-class English language instruction provided by Kaplan.
• Kaplan also operates two higher education institutions in Europe: Dublin Business School, in Ireland, and Kaplan Open Learning, in the UK. At the end of 2017, these institutions enrolled an aggregate of approximately 6,000 students.[1]

In the Asia Pacific region, Kaplan operates businesses primarily in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and South Korea:

• In Singapore, Kaplan operates three business units: Kaplan Higher Education, Kaplan Financial and Kaplan Professional. During 2018, the Higher Education and Financial divisions served more than 14,000 students from Singapore and 2,700 students from other countries throughout Asia. Kaplan Professional provided short courses to approximately 55,000 professionals, managers, executives, and businesspeople in 2018.
• In Australia, Kaplan delivers financial services education and professional development courses, as well as higher education programs in business, accounting, hospitality, and tourism and management through Kaplan Business School. In 2018, this business provided courses to approximately 2,300 students through classroom programs and to approximately 43,000 students through online or distance-learning programs.
• In Hong Kong, Kaplan offers programs ranging from language education and standardized test preparation to corporate and financial training and higher education degree courses. During 2018, Kaplan's Hong Kong business provided courses to approximately 25,000 students.
• In South Korea, in addition to university preparation programs, Kaplan delivers A-Level programs and cooperates with several Chinese universities to provide ACCA training programs to students.

Established in 1938, Kaplan Test Prep sells preparation materials for standardized tests through tutoring, on-site classes, asynchronous and live programs, print books, and digital products. With programs for individuals, schools, and businesses, Kaplan Test Prep offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests. These include admissions tests for secondary school, college, and graduate school, such as the SAT, ACT, Law School Admission Test (LSAT), Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Dental Admission Test (DAT), Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), Optometry Admission Test (OAT), Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) and others. Kaplan also provides preparation for professional licensing exams include state-specific and Multi-State Bar Review for attorneys, USMLE and COMLEX prep for physicians, and NCLEX prep for nurses. Printed materials are distributed by Simon & Schuster.[10] Kaplan Test Prep also licenses material for some of its courses to third parties and a Kaplan affiliate, which, during 2018, offered courses at 68 locations in 30 countries outside the US.[11] During 2018, KTP enrolled over 340,000 students in its courses, including more than 171,000 enrolled in online programs.[1] In 2018, Kaplan acquired the Barron's brand of test prep materials from Barron's Educational Series, which was renamed B.E.S. Publishing.[12] Barron's offers materials for the SAT Reasoning test, SAT Subject Tests, TOEFL, CAHSEE, CHSPE, AP examinations, New York State Regents Examinations, SHSAT and similarly regulated American educational tests.

Major acquisitions since 1995 include:[15]

• 1995 – Thompson Institute, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, becomes Kaplan Career Institute [16]
• 1996 – Score, a network of after-school tutoring centers based in California with locations around the country
• 1998 – Dearborn Publishing, a publisher of professional training books in Chicago and owner of Anthony Schools in California
• 2000 – Quest Education Corporation, a network of for profit schools with 30 locations that brought Kaplan into the higher education industry
• 2003 – The Financial Training Company, a provider of accounting and financial service training based in London with operations in Asia
• 2003 – Dublin Business School, a university in Ireland that offers undergraduate and postgraduate business and liberal arts programs
• 2004 – Two Sawyer College campuses: Hammond, Indiana and Merrillville, Indiana.
• 2005 – Asia Pacific Management Institute (now Kaplan Singapore), a Higher Education company providing Diploma to Doctoral degrees offered by different universities.[17]
• 2006 – Tribeca Learning, a financial services and real estate training provider based in Australia
• 2006 – Aspect Education, now Kaplan International English, a provider of English language instruction based in the UK
• 2007 – FINSIA Education, a provider of financial services training.
• 2007 – EduNeering Inc., a provider in compliance and knowledge management solutions.
• 2009 – Manhattan Prep, an American test preparation company focused on preparation for the GMAT, GRE, and LSAT.
• 2011 – Structuralia, a provider of training and education in Spain.
• 2011 – Carrick Education Group, a leading vocational and higher education provider in Australia.
• 2011 – Franklyn Scholar, a national provider of work-based vocational training in Australia.
• 2012 – Academy, a focused corporate training and organisational development services provider
• 2012 – BEO Japan, a Japanese study-abroad student recruitment agency
• 2012 – Hands On Education Consultants, a Thai study-abroad student recruitment agency
• 2013 – Grockit, an online social learning game company that prepared students for standardized exams.
• 2014 – Dev Bootcamp, a web development bootcamp
• 2015 – SmartPros, a provider of accountancy continuing education.[18]
• 2015 – Mander Portman Woodward (“MPW”), a group of private colleges based in the UK.[19]
• 2017 – Genesis Institute, a provider of financial services training.[20]
• 2017 – The College for Financial Planning, a provider of financial services training.[21]
• 2018 – Professional Publications Inc. (sometimes marketed as PPI 2 Pass), maker of study materials for engineering licensure exams.[22]

In 2013 and 2014, Kaplan partnered with TechStars to create the Kaplan EdTech Accelerator, which hosted, mentored, and funded startup companies focused on education technology and product innovation for a three-month program in New York City.[23] The 22 startups that participated raised more than $15 million.[24]

In 2015, Kaplan launched Metis, a data science training provider offering full-time immersive bootcamps, part-time professional development courses, online learning, and corporate programs, with locations in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago.[25]

In 2007, Kaplan agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that had been brought against Kaplan and BarBri, a company offering a widely used bar exam preparation course. Among the allegations in the suit, which charged that BarBri had overcharged students, was an allegation of federal antitrust violation claiming that Kaplan had agreed not to compete in the bar review business while BarBri agreed it would not compete in the LSAT business. Both West Publishing Company (parent of BarBri) and Kaplan denied the allegations and the matter was resolved without any findings of wrongdoing, with BarBri and Kaplan paying $30 million to the class claimants.[26]

In 2012, the North Carolina Attorney General determined Kaplan lied to students about the credentials they would earn in the Dental Assistant program.[27]  Following the investigation Kaplan College Charlotte campus surrendered its license to operate a school. Kaplan refunded students the cost of tuition, books, and fees, and agreed to pay the program’s graduates $9,000 stipends. Students claimed they were told the school would soon obtain ADA accreditation. The program had never been accredited by the American Dental Association, and had never been scheduled for the initial site visit required for accreditation.[28][29]

In 2014, Kaplan settled claims with the Florida Attorney General regarding claims of using misleading marketing to enroll students.  Kaplan was investigated for violating Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act by “making misrepresentations and misleading statements and omitting or failing to disclose material information related to marketing their schools and programs to prospective students.”[30] Under the terms of the settlement Kaplan agreed to “clearly and conspicuously disclose true and accurate information relating to the school’s accreditation, program costs, financial aid, and the scope and nature of employment services they provide”. Specifically, Kaplan cannot claim a program is “fully accredited”, can’t say that an interview or recommendation is required, can’t use artificial or arbitrary enrollment deadlines, can’t say a course is in “high demand” or has limited availability if it does not, can’t say that federal grants are “free money,” and can’t enroll a student with regular internet access. Further, Kaplan agreed to retrain to students who asserted claims against the school. During the course of the investigation Kaplan waived $6 million in tuition and fees for more than 2,400 Florida students, and reimburses the Florida Attorney General’s office for attorney costs.

In July 2015, Kaplan paid $1.375 million to the Massachusetts Attorney General's office to resolve complaints following an investigation in which the AG alleged Kaplan engaged in “unfair or deceptive practices designed to induce enrollment of students” including “harassing sales tactics and false and misleading representations” in the operation of the  Kaplan Career Institute campus in Boston, Massachusetts.[31]

In 2015, Kaplan paid $1.3 million to resolve allegations that it hired instructors who were not qualified. The United States Department of Justice began investigating Kaplan following a Qui tam suit filed by a whistleblower under the False Claims Act. The whistleblower alleged Kaplan employing unqualified instructors to teach Medical Assistant courses at its San Antonio campuses and knowingly requested, received, and retained federal funds for courses taught by individuals who did not meet the minimum requirements established by Texas law. Kaplan agreed to pay $1.3 million to settle the suit, and with more than $1 million being paid to 289 former students in the form of tuition refunds. [32][33]