Purdue's Bold Move

By: Paul Fain & Rick Seltzer - Inside Higher Ed

Purdue University’s acquisition of Kaplan University is an unexpected tectonic shift in American higher education, revealing both the changing roles of public universities and the dwindling fortunes of for-profit colleges.

The deal announced Thursday has the Indiana-based public research university acquiring nearly all of the credential-issuing side of Kaplan’s higher education business -- seven schools and colleges that make up Kaplan University, but not its School of Professional and Continuing Education.

Roughly 32,000 Kaplan students, 15 campus locations and 3,000 employees are slated to join Purdue under a newly created nonprofit university that will carry some version of Purdue’s name. About 85 percent of Kaplan’s current students are enrolled in fully online programs, with the rest in hybrid ones.