Kaplan

Kaplan is an American education company whose activities span academic test preparation, professional and continuing education, higher-education support, and educational products for early-learning and school settings. The business began in 1938, when Stanley H. Kaplan established a tutoring operation in Brooklyn, New York. It became particularly associated with standardized-test preparation, helping students prepare for examinations used in admissions and professional qualification. Over time, the Kaplan name expanded from local tutoring into a broad portfolio of education services delivered through classroom instruction, online learning, instructional materials, assessment preparation, and institutional partnerships. Kaplan’s best-known consumer-facing activities have historically included preparation for examinations such as the SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, and other academic or professional tests. The company has also operated programs and services connected with licensing and professional development in fields including finance, accounting, real estate, healthcare, and law. The exact product mix has changed over time as examination formats, regulation, technology, and learner preferences have evolved. Digital instruction, adaptive practice, on-demand study materials, and blended learning have become important parts of the company’s delivery model alongside live courses and tutoring. The company also works with colleges, universities, employers, and professional bodies. These activities have included online-program support, student recruitment and enrollment services, learning technology, curriculum and course-development assistance, and other forms of education management or institutional support. Such services position Kaplan not only as a consumer education brand but also as a business-to-business and business-to-institution provider. Kaplan’s international operations have included education and training services outside the United States, although the scope and structure of those operations have varied by period and market. A related activity represented by the supplied website is Kaplan Early Learning Company. This business serves early-childhood programs, schools, teachers, and childcare providers with classroom furniture, curriculum materials, educational toys, technology, playground equipment, school supplies, and other resources for children from birth through sixth grade. The early-learning operation gives the Kaplan name a product-commerce presence distinct from its examination-preparation and higher-education services. It is therefore useful to treat Kaplan as a group of education-related businesses rather than as a single course or product line. Kaplan is part of Graham Holdings Company, the diversified public company formerly known as The Washington Post Company. Kaplan’s status as a Graham Holdings subsidiary means that it is not itself generally presented as an independently listed public company. Its businesses have nevertheless remained important components of Graham Holdings’ education portfolio. Kaplan’s long history reflects the broader movement from face-to-face tutoring toward scalable digital education, while its continuing operations combine direct-to-learner instruction with institutional services and physical educational resources.

Kaplan was established in 1938 by Stanley H. Kaplan as a tutoring business in Brooklyn, New York. Its early identity was built around helping students prepare for academic examinations, and the company gradually developed a recognizable specialization in standardized-test preparation. As higher education became more competitive and admissions testing became a major part of the application process, Kaplan expanded its courses, instructional publications, tutoring network, and examination-specific programs. The business later broadened beyond admissions testing. It developed preparation and training for graduate-school examinations, law and medical admissions tests, business-school tests, and professional licensing examinations. This expansion moved Kaplan toward a diversified education model in which course instruction, books, practice questions, diagnostic assessments, and tutoring could be combined for different learner groups. Kaplan became part of The Washington Post Company, now Graham Holdings Company, in the 1980s. Under that ownership, the Kaplan name was extended into additional education businesses, including higher-education services, online learning, professional education, and international training. The company worked with educational institutions and other organizations as well as selling programs directly to students and professionals. Its business model consequently included both tuition-based learning products and service contracts or partnerships with institutions. Technology changed Kaplan’s delivery model over the following decades. Classroom courses were supplemented, and in some cases replaced, by online lessons, digital practice, remote tutoring, recorded instruction, and software-supported study plans. The company continued to adapt its offerings as testing organizations altered exam formats and as learners increasingly expected mobile and on-demand access. The Kaplan name also covers an early-learning products business. Kaplan Early Learning Company supplies resources for childcare centers, preschools, elementary schools, teachers, and families. Its catalog includes classroom furniture, curriculum materials, educational toys, playground equipment, technology, and general school supplies for children from birth through sixth grade. This operation differs from Kaplan’s test-preparation businesses but remains consistent with the wider brand’s education focus. Today, Kaplan is best understood as a group of education-related businesses rather than a single standardized-test company. It combines direct learning and assessment preparation with professional training, institutional services, digital education, and early-childhood resources. Its ownership by Graham Holdings distinguishes it from an independently listed Kaplan public company, while its long operating history has made the name familiar across several segments of the education market.

• 1984

  Kaplan joins The Washington Post Company

  Kaplan became part of The Washington Post Company, the corporate predecessor of Graham Holdings Company.

• 1938

  Stanley Kaplan establishes the tutoring business

  Stanley H. Kaplan founded a tutoring operation in Brooklyn, New York, creating the business that later became Kaplan.

• Expansion into broader education services

  The company expanded from test preparation into professional education, higher-education services, online learning, and international education activities.

• Development of Kaplan Early Learning

  [1]Kaplan Early Learning official websitekaplanco.com

  Kaplan developed an early-learning products business serving childcare centers and schools with furniture, curriculum resources, classroom supplies, playground equipment, and educational materials.

A broad education-services group combining consumer test preparation, professional training, institutional higher-education support, digital learning, and early-learning supplies.

• Test preparation

  Standardized-test preparation

  Kaplan has long provided preparation for academic admissions and other standardized examinations. Offerings have included instructor-led classes, private tutoring, books, practice questions, diagnostic assessments, online lessons, and self-paced study resources. The relevant exams and formats have changed over time, so the specific current portfolio should be checked against Kaplan’s active course catalog.

• Professional education

  Professional education and licensing preparation

  Kaplan provides training and examination preparation for selected professional and regulated fields. Depending on market and period, these services have covered areas such as finance, accounting, real estate, healthcare, and law. Programs may combine instructional content, question banks, revision tools, and continuing-education or licensing support.

• Institutional education services

  Higher-education services

  Kaplan has supplied services to colleges and universities, including online-program support, course and curriculum assistance, learning technology, enrollment-related services, and other forms of institutional education support. These activities are generally delivered through partnerships rather than as a conventional retail product.

• Early-learning products

  Kaplan Early Learning educational resources

  Kaplan Early Learning serves early-childhood classrooms, childcare providers, schools, teachers, and families. Its product range includes furniture, curriculum materials, educational toys, technology, playground equipment, classroom organization products, and school supplies intended for children from birth through sixth grade.

1. 1Kaplan Early Learning official websitekaplanco.com