Education Technology · Profile from Education Technology Research Companion
Kaplan, Inc.
The test-prep business that Stanley Kaplan started in a Brooklyn basement in 1938, which the Washington Post Company bought in 1984 and turned into a ~$3bn-a-year global education conglomerate, then shrank after the for-profit college crackdown. Kaplan gave away its US university to Purdue in 2017 in exchange for a long-term services contract, and today it is mostly an international pathways, language and professional-training business owned by Graham Holdings.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1938, Brooklyn, New York (Stanley H. Kaplan Educational Center)
- Founders
- Stanley H. Kaplan (1919–2009)
- Headquarters
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Kaplan, Inc. and Kaplan North America). Kaplan International is run from London
- Ownership / structure
- Wholly owned subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC), formerly The Washington Post Company, since 1984. Graham Holdings reports Kaplan as its "education division"
- Leadership (2026)
- Andrew S. Rosen, Chairman and CEO of Kaplan, Inc. (CEO 2008–2013 and again from 2015; still listed in recent filings, verify). Kaplan International, Kaplan North America and Kaplan Higher Education each have their own chief executive
- Segment and buyer
- Four lines: Kaplan International (pathways into UK, US and Australian universities, English-language schools, Singapore and Australia higher education, UK professional training); Higher Education (services to Purdue University Global); Supplemental Education (US test prep and professional licensing, ~$317m in 2025); plus Kaplan corporate. Buyers are individual learners and parents, international students, universities, employers and professional firms
- Scale
- Education division revenue $1,744.3m in 2025 (+3% from $1,691.8m in 2024). Kaplan International ~$1.08bn, Higher Education ~$349m, Supplemental Education ~$317m. Operating income $159.9m in 2025 (from $100.8m in 2024). Peak revenue ~$2.8–2.9bn around 2010 (approximate)
- Capital raised / valuation / market cap
- Never separately capitalised. Bought by the Washington Post Company in 1984 for a reported ~$40–45m (verify). Funded since then by its parent. Graham Holdings' total market cap was ~$4–5bn in 2025–26 (approximate, verify)
- Signature moves
- Founding of commercial test prep (1938). Sale to the Washington Post (1984). Concord Law School, the first fully online US law school (1998). Quest Education acquisition and creation of Kaplan University (2000). International buildout (2003 onward). "Kaplan Commitment" free trial after the GAO report (2010). Becoming the core of Graham Holdings after the Post sale (2013). Sale of 38 Kaplan College campuses to ECA (2015). Kaplan University transferred to Purdue as Purdue Global (2017–18). Failures: Score! learning centers (closed 2009), the Kaplan Higher Ed collapse after 2010, ECA's 2018 colla
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1938
Founding and SAT Coaching
Launch
1984
Acquired by Washington Post
Acquisition (Kaplan as target)
1998
Concord Online Law School
Launch
2000
Quest Education and Kaplan University
Acquisition
2003
Kaplan International Buildout
Acquisitions / international expansion
2010
Kaplan Commitment Trial
Pricing change / restructuring
2013
Post Sale and Graham Holdings
Restructuring (parent-level)
2015
Sells Campuses to ECA
Divestiture
2017
Kaplan University to Purdue Global
Divestiture / partnership (asset transfer plus long-term services agreement)