Kaplan, Inc.
Encyclopedia
Kaplan, Inc. is a for-profit corporation
headquartered in New York City
and was founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan
. Kaplan provides higher education programs, professional training courses, test preparation
materials and other services for various levels of education. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Washington Post Company.
is Andrew Rosen
. Its 2009 revenue was $2.6 billion.
Stanley H. Kaplan
, the founder of the company, died of a heart ailment on August 23, 2009. He was 90 years of age.
brand, also offers online programs. At year-end 2010 Kaplan University had approximately 58,200 students online and 7,400 in classrooms.
Due to student loan default
rates, the U.S. Department of Education
has criticized for-profit institutions, with the Secretary of Education asserting that "too many for-profit schools are saddling students with debt they cannot afford in exchange for degrees and certificates they cannot use." In response, Kaplan Higher Education has set up the "Kaplan Commitment" program, which allows prospective students to attend the first few sessions of a course free, to decide if it meets their needs and abilities, before taking on a financial obligation.
Kaplan also owns the online Concord Law School
. Outside the United States, Kaplan offers a number of higher education, professional training and English/pathways programs, including Dublin Business School
in Ireland, which offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business and the liberal arts, and Kaplan Higher Education (formerly called Asia Pacific Management Institute
) in Hong Kong / Singapore.
was opened in London, in partnership with Nottingham Law School, to offer post-graduate legal training. In Australia, Kaplan provides professional training, higher education programs, and English language education. In May 2007 the UK arm of Kaplan extended its training offering from professional qualification into higher education with the introduction of Kaplan Open Learning. Kaplan Open Learning (Essex) Limited (“KOL”) has been established as an affiliate college of the University of Essex. The College provides university level education, offering programmes of study for students who wish to obtain a university Foundation Degree or top up that degree to an Honours Degree. Kaplan Open Learning is financially supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
s and tutoring services. Kaplan currently offers classes to prepare students for various exams: college admissions tests including the SAT
and ACT
; graduate school admission tests such as the Law School Admission Test
(LSAT), Graduate Management Admission Test
(GMAT), Graduate Record Examination
(GRE), Dental Admission Test
(DAT), and Medical College Admission Test
(MCAT); and other tests including the NCLEX, USMLE, COMLEX, CPA
, TOEFL
and PCAT exams. Outside of the United States and Canada, Kaplan operates in more than 30 countries including the UK and France, and also operates Kidum, a test preparation company in Israel, and Kaplan International Colleges
, a provider of English language training and pathway programs based in the U.K.
Kaplan worked with Aspyr Media
to develop and publish the educational video game futureU
, which was released on August 25, 2008 for Windows
and Mac OS X
, and on November 5, 2008 for the Nintendo DS
.
in the basement of his parents' Brooklyn home. He eventually opened locations around the country. In 1984, Kaplan sold the company to The Washington Post Company, which centralized control. The company grew significantly in the 1990s by expanding its business and purchasing other test preparation and educational companies. The company's leader during this expansion period was Jonathan Grayer
.
, 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.
lawsuit that accused the institution of violating the False Claims Act
and defrauding the U.S. government out of more than $4 billion. The lawsuit alleged that Kaplan enrolled unqualified students, inflated their grades so they could stay enrolled, and falsified documents to obtain accreditation for certain academic programs. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida and unsealed in 2008.
The federal government declined to intervene in the case, but on May 29, 2008, filed a "statement of interest" brief opposing a Kaplan attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed. On July 6, 2010, the federal government filed a "statement of interest" brief to advise the court of its position on certain legal doctrines relevant to the case. (July 6, 2010 Statement of Interest.) In the summer of 2010, The Chronicle of Higher Education
reported that the U.S. Department of Justice had filed another "statement of interest" against dismissing the purported whistle-blowers' claims. In a memorandum filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, Judge Patricia A. Seitz of the U.S. District Court in Miami was urged to permit the lawsuits against Kaplan to proceed, stating that the "parade of horribles" that Kaplan predicted if the case were not dismissed was "entirely illusory.".
On August 17, 2011, Seitz dismissed with prejudice these allegations, finding that the former employees involved in the case had failed to sufficiently allege any violation of the False Claims Act. Seitz declined at this time to dismiss claims brought by two of the former employees under the accommodation provisions of the Rehabilitation Act and federal employment law, respectively. Kaplan University has denied any wrongdoing in the case.
For-profit corporation
A for-profit corporation is a corporation that is intended to operate a business which will return a profit to the owners. A for-profit corporation, depending on the jurisdiction to which it is incorporated, may be operated either as a stock corporation or as a non-stock corporation.A non-profit...
headquartered in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and was founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan
Stanley Kaplan
Stanley H. Kaplan was an American businessman and scholastic test preparation pioneer who founded Kaplan, Inc., in 1938.Kaplan was born in New York City to Jewish immigrant parents from the present-day countries of Latvia and Belarus...
. Kaplan provides higher education programs, professional training courses, test preparation
Test preparation
Test preparation or exam preparation primarily refers to educational courses, tutoring services, and educational materials/learning tools designed to increase students' performance on standardized tests, particularly entrance examinations used for admissions to institutions of higher education,...
materials and other services for various levels of education. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Washington Post Company.
Company
Kaplan is a for-profit subsidiary of The Washington Post Company. Its Chairman and CEOChief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
is Andrew Rosen
Andrew Rosen
Andrew S. Rosen is current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kaplan, Inc., a global education company that began as a test prep provider in 1938 and was purchased by The Washington Post Company in 1984...
. Its 2009 revenue was $2.6 billion.
Stanley H. Kaplan
Stanley Kaplan
Stanley H. Kaplan was an American businessman and scholastic test preparation pioneer who founded Kaplan, Inc., in 1938.Kaplan was born in New York City to Jewish immigrant parents from the present-day countries of Latvia and Belarus...
, the founder of the company, died of a heart ailment on August 23, 2009. He was 90 years of age.
Kaplan Higher Education
Kaplan Higher Education is a group of institutions that offer classroom and online certificate and degree programs in fields such as criminal justice, health care, business, information technology and legal studies. Iowa College Acquisition Corporation, operating under the Kaplan UniversityKaplan University
Kaplan University is the "doing business as" name of the Iowa College Acquisition Corporation, a company that owns and operates for-profit colleges...
brand, also offers online programs. At year-end 2010 Kaplan University had approximately 58,200 students online and 7,400 in classrooms.
Due to student loan default
Default (finance)
In finance, default occurs when a debtor has not met his or her legal obligations according to the debt contract, e.g. has not made a scheduled payment, or has violated a loan covenant of the debt contract. A default is the failure to pay back a loan. Default may occur if the debtor is either...
rates, the U.S. Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
has criticized for-profit institutions, with the Secretary of Education asserting that "too many for-profit schools are saddling students with debt they cannot afford in exchange for degrees and certificates they cannot use." In response, Kaplan Higher Education has set up the "Kaplan Commitment" program, which allows prospective students to attend the first few sessions of a course free, to decide if it meets their needs and abilities, before taking on a financial obligation.
Kaplan also owns the online Concord Law School
Concord Law School
Concord Law School , is an online law school based in Los Angeles, California. It is currently known as Concord Law School of Kaplan University. The school is a subsidiary of the Kaplan Higher Education Corporation...
. Outside the United States, Kaplan offers a number of higher education, professional training and English/pathways programs, including Dublin Business School
Dublin Business School
Dublin Business School incorporating Portobello College is the largest independent college in Ireland. With over 9,000 students, DBS provides a range of full-time and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, with courses for 2010/2011 in subject areas such as business, law, event...
in Ireland, which offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business and the liberal arts, and Kaplan Higher Education (formerly called Asia Pacific Management Institute
Asia Pacific Management Institute
The Asia Pacific Management Institute is a for-profit university owned by Kaplan Inc., a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. The school's main campus is in Singapore with other campuses in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and PRC....
) in Hong Kong / Singapore.
Kaplan Professional
Kaplan Professional offers education for licensing, certification, and training purposes, in areas including accounting, insurance, securities, real estate, financial planning, information technology, and architecture. Kaplan Financial Ltd., a national UK company that offers accounting and financial services training in the United Kingdom and in Asia, was acquired in 2003 (as The Financial Training Company). In September 2007, Kaplan Law SchoolKaplan Law School
Kaplan Law School is a for-profit educational institution offering post-graduate legal training in London for those wishing to become a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales.-History:...
was opened in London, in partnership with Nottingham Law School, to offer post-graduate legal training. In Australia, Kaplan provides professional training, higher education programs, and English language education. In May 2007 the UK arm of Kaplan extended its training offering from professional qualification into higher education with the introduction of Kaplan Open Learning. Kaplan Open Learning (Essex) Limited (“KOL”) has been established as an affiliate college of the University of Essex. The College provides university level education, offering programmes of study for students who wish to obtain a university Foundation Degree or top up that degree to an Honours Degree. Kaplan Open Learning is financially supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions and kaptest.co.uk sell preparation materials for standardized testStandardized test
A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a...
s and tutoring services. Kaplan currently offers classes to prepare students for various exams: college admissions tests including the SAT
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
and ACT
ACT (examination)
The ACT is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test...
; graduate school admission tests such as the Law School Admission Test
Law School Admission Test
The Law School Admission Test is a half-day standardized test administered four times each year at designated testing centers throughout the world. Administered by the Law School Admission Council for prospective law school candidates, the LSAT is designed to assess Reading Comprehension,...
(LSAT), Graduate Management Admission Test
Graduate Management Admission Test
The Graduate Management Admission Test is a computer-adaptive standardized test in mathematics and the English language for measuring aptitude to succeed academically in graduate business studies. Business schools use the test as a criterion for admission into graduate business administration...
(GMAT), Graduate Record Examination
Graduate Record Examination
The Graduate Record Examinations is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools in the United States, in other English-speaking countries and for English-taught graduate and business programs world-wide...
(GRE), Dental Admission Test
Dental Admission Test
The Dental Admission Test is a multiple-choice standardized exam taken by potential dental school students in the United States and Canada...
(DAT), and Medical College Admission Test
Medical College Admission Test
The Medical College Admission Test is a computer-based standardized examination for prospective medical students in the United States and Canada. It is designed to assess problem solving, critical thinking, written analysis, and writing skills in addition to knowledge of scientific concepts and...
(MCAT); and other tests including the NCLEX, USMLE, COMLEX, CPA
Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination
The Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination is the examination administered to people who wish to become Certified Public Accountants in the United States....
, TOEFL
TOEFL
The Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL , evaluates the ability of an individual to use and understand English in an academic setting....
and PCAT exams. Outside of the United States and Canada, Kaplan operates in more than 30 countries including the UK and France, and also operates Kidum, a test preparation company in Israel, and Kaplan International Colleges
Kaplan International Colleges
Kaplan International Colleges is a division of the education company Kaplan Inc., headquartered in London and founded in 1967. KIC provides English language courses, university and exam preparation and academic foundation courses in 42 locations worldwide. Courses are taught in city center...
, a provider of English language training and pathway programs based in the U.K.
Kaplan Kids and Schools
Kaplan offers a range of programs and assessment tools for K12 students and teachers. Kaplan’s K12 programs range from after-school tutoring and virtual high school instruction for children to online curriculum development, reading and math intervention, supplemental skill and test readiness solutions, and college preparation programs for school districts.Kaplan worked with Aspyr Media
Aspyr Media
Aspyr Media, Inc. is an Austin, Texas based company that specializes in porting Windows games to Mac OS. It has been in business since 1996, and as of 2003 owns 60 percent of the Mac entertainment market...
to develop and publish the educational video game futureU
FutureU
futureU is an educational video game developed and published by Aspyr Media on November 5, 2008 for Windows, Mac OS X, and the Nintendo DS, and created in association with test preparation company Kaplan, Inc.-Gameplay:...
, which was released on August 25, 2008 for Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, and on November 5, 2008 for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
.
History
Kaplan was founded in 1938 by Stanley H. Kaplan, who started the business by tutoring students for the New York State Regents ExamRegents Examinations
Regents High School examinations, sometimes shortened to the Regents, are mandatory in New York State through the New York State Education Department, designed and administered under the authority of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York...
in the basement of his parents' Brooklyn home. He eventually opened locations around the country. In 1984, Kaplan sold the company to The Washington Post Company, which centralized control. The company grew significantly in the 1990s by expanding its business and purchasing other test preparation and educational companies. The company's leader during this expansion period was Jonathan Grayer
Jonathan Grayer
Jonathan Grayer is the former Chairman and CEO of Kaplan, Inc., a global education company and test prep provider that has been owned by The Washington Post Company since 1984. Grayer is credited with expanding the company to its current size since 1994 when he was first appointed CEO...
.
Acquisitions
Major acquisitions during the last 15 years include:- 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
- 2000 – Quest Education CorporationHamilton College (Iowa)The name of Iowa- and Nebraska-based "Hamilton College" no longer exists. All seven campuses are now named Kaplan University.Hamilton College was the DBA name of the Iowa College Acquisition Corporation, a company that owns and operates independent, private, for-profit colleges. Hamilton College...
, 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 SchoolDublin Business SchoolDublin Business School incorporating Portobello College is the largest independent college in Ireland. With over 9,000 students, DBS provides a range of full-time and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, with courses for 2010/2011 in subject areas such as business, law, event...
, 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 InstituteAsia Pacific Management InstituteThe Asia Pacific Management Institute is a for-profit university owned by Kaplan Inc., a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. The school's main campus is in Singapore with other campuses in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and PRC....
(APMI Kaplan), a Higher Education company providing Diploma to Doctoral degrees offered by different universities. - 2006 – Tribeca Learning, a financial services and real estate training provider based in Australia
- 2006 – Aspect Education, a provider of English language instruction based in the U.K.
- 2007 – Finsia Education, a provider of financial services training.
- 2007 – EduNeering Inc., a provider in compliance and knowledge management solutions.
- 2011 – Structuralia, a leading provider of training and education in Spain.
- 2011 – Carrick Education Group, a leading vocational and higher education provider in Australia.
- 2011 – Franklyn Scholar, a leading national provider of work-based vocational training in Australia.
Class-action lawsuit
In 2007 Kaplan agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that had been brought against Kaplan and BarBriBarBri
BarBri is a company in the United States that offers a widely used bar exam preparation course. A majority of American recipients of a Juris Doctor degree attend a six-week BarBri course, which features lectures by law professors on the six major areas covered on the Multistate Bar Examination —...
, 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.
False Claims Act lawsuit
In 2008 three former academic officers at Kaplan University, an arm of Kaplan, Inc., filed a federal whistleblowerWhistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
lawsuit that accused the institution of violating the False Claims Act
False Claims Act
The False Claims Act is an American federal law that imposes liability on persons and companies who defraud governmental programs. The law includes a "qui tam" provision that allows people who are not affiliated with the government to file actions on behalf of the government...
and defrauding the U.S. government out of more than $4 billion. The lawsuit alleged that Kaplan enrolled unqualified students, inflated their grades so they could stay enrolled, and falsified documents to obtain accreditation for certain academic programs. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida and unsealed in 2008.
The federal government declined to intervene in the case, but on May 29, 2008, filed a "statement of interest" brief opposing a Kaplan attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed. On July 6, 2010, the federal government filed a "statement of interest" brief to advise the court of its position on certain legal doctrines relevant to the case. (July 6, 2010 Statement of Interest.) In the summer of 2010, The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty, staff members and administrators....
reported that the U.S. Department of Justice had filed another "statement of interest" against dismissing the purported whistle-blowers' claims. In a memorandum filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, Judge Patricia A. Seitz of the U.S. District Court in Miami was urged to permit the lawsuits against Kaplan to proceed, stating that the "parade of horribles" that Kaplan predicted if the case were not dismissed was "entirely illusory.".
On August 17, 2011, Seitz dismissed with prejudice these allegations, finding that the former employees involved in the case had failed to sufficiently allege any violation of the False Claims Act. Seitz declined at this time to dismiss claims brought by two of the former employees under the accommodation provisions of the Rehabilitation Act and federal employment law, respectively. Kaplan University has denied any wrongdoing in the case.
External links
- Kaplan, Inc.
- Article on history of Kaplan's founder by Malcolm GladwellMalcolm GladwellMalcolm Gladwell, CM is a Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. He is currently based in New York City and has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996...