Kaplan, Inc. is an education company headquartered in New York City. Kaplan provides learning and test preparation materials for various levels of education. Kaplan is a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. Its Chairman and CEO is Jonathan Grayer. In 2006, Kaplan’s revenue was nearly $1.7 billion.[1]
Subdivisions
Kaplan Test Preparation & Admissions sells preparation materials for standardized tests, in addition to tutoring services. Currently Kaplan offers classes to prepare students for college admissions tests including the SAT and ACT as well as graduate school admission tests such as the LSAT, GMAT, GRE, DAT, and MCAT. Kaplan also offers courses for the NCLEX, USMLE and CPA exams, as well as English language courses including preparation for the TOEFL exam. Outside of the United States, Kaplan operates Kidum, a test preparation company in Israel, and Aspect, a provider of English language training based in the U.K.
Kaplan Kids and Schools provides educational materials and services to children in grades pre-K through 12 and individual school districts.[2] Also, SCORE! Educational Centers provides after-school tutoring services for children in grades kindergarten to tenth grade.
Kaplan Professional offers education for licensing, certification, and training purposes. Areas of education include accounting, real estate, financial services, architecture, and others. FTC Kaplan, a London-based company that offers accounting and financial services training in the United Kingdom and in Asia, was was acquired in 2003 as The Financial Training Company.
Kaplan Higher Education is a group of institutions that offer fixed-facility and online certificate and degree programs in fields such as criminal justice, health care, business, information technology and legal studies. The unit includes more than 70 campuses and online programs through Kaplan University.
History
Kaplan was founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan, who started the business by tutoring students for the New York State Regents Exam in the basement of his Brooklyn home. He eventually franchised the business around the country. In 1984, Kaplan sold the company to the Washington Post Company, which ended the franchises and centralized control. Kaplan grew significantly in the 1990s by expanding its business and purchasing other test preparation and educational companies[3]
Acquisitions
Some of Kaplan’s major acquisitions during the last 10 years include:[4]
- 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 Corporation, a network of career colleges with 30 schools 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
- 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.
Class-action lawsuit
Kaplan Inc. recently agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that had been brought against BAR/BRI and Kaplan. Among the allegations in the suit, which charged that BAR/BRI had overcharged students, was an allegation of antitrust violation claiming that Kaplan had agreed not to compete in the bar review business while BAR/BRI agreed it would not compete in the LSAT business. Both West Publishing Company (parent of BAR/BRI), and Kaplan, Inc., denied the allegations and the matter was resolved without any finding of wrongdoing.[5]
References
- ^ http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=62487&p=irol-reportsAnnual
- ^ http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=62487&p=irol-reportsAnnual
- ^ Kaplan, Stanley H. Test Pilot. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.
- ^ http://www.kaplan.com/AboutKaplan/PressReleases/
- ^ http://www.barbri-classaction.com/barbri/default.htm