KAPLAN VIRTUAL EDUCATION RENAMES PRIVATE ONLINE HIGH SCHOOL

KAPLAN COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL

April 8, 2008—Kaplan Virtual Education today announced that it has changed the name of its private online high school to Kaplan College Preparatory School.  Previously called the University of Miami Online High School, the renaming serves to align the college preparatory high school with the Kaplan family of companies.

“Kaplan has a rich history of helping students achieve their academic goals. As learning platforms have evolved over the company’s 70-year history, we too have evolved expanding our offerings to meet the needs to today’s students,” said Charles Thornburgh, President of Kaplan Virtual Education, which operates the high school. “At Kaplan College Preparatory School, we offer students a rigorous online college preparatory high school education that they can access anywhere in the world. As more and more high school students turn to alternative methods of education, we will continue to enhance our offerings to meet their needs.”

The high school has been offering secondary courses since 2001. Kaplan Virtual Education, part of Kaplan Higher Education, acquired UMOHS and online curriculum developer Virtual Sage in April 2007. The high school offers competitive college-bound students rigorous course work, academic coaching, and college counseling. Many of its graduates have been accepted into some of the nation’s most prestigious universities, including Stanford, Duke and New York University.

The Kaplan College Preparatory School serves students in grades 8 through 12 and has approximately 3,000 enrollments. The school offers more than 75 highly-interactive courses with embedded video, animated learning activities and audio features. The courses include advanced placement, honors, core and elective courses. Students receive individualized attention with one-on-one instruction from certified teachers, academic advisors, and full technical support.

The number of K-12 students taking online courses has surged in recent years as students and their parents seek convenient and flexible options that allow them to take advanced-level courses not offered at brick-and-mortar schools, fit required courses into packed schedules, or make up failed courses. Overall, the number of K-12 students in the United States engaged in online courses in 2005-2006 was estimated to be 700,000, according to the Sloan Consortium, which researches online education.

Kaplan College Preparatory School is operated by Kaplan Virtual Education which is regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), and by the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA).

About Kaplan Virtual Education
Kaplan Virtual Education’s private schools include Kaplan College Preparatory School and Kaplan University High School (www.kuhighschool.com).  Kaplan Virtual Education also operates online public high schools including Kaplan Academy of Colorado (www.kaplanacademy.com/colorado) and Kaplan Academy of Kansas (www.kaplanacademy.com/kansas).  Curriculum for the schools is developed by Virtual Sage (www.virtualsage.org), which has developed approximately 200 online high school courses designed to meet various state and national education standard. These courses are used by online high school programs around the country. For information on Kaplan Virtual Education and its various schools and programs, visit www.kaplanvirtualeducation.com.

Kaplan Virtual Education is part of Kaplan Higher Education, which serves 80,000 students online and through 70 campus-based schools across the United States and in Europe. It also offers post-secondary online programs through Kaplan University and Concord Law School of Kaplan University. Kaplan Higher Education schools offer a spectrum of academic opportunities, from high school diplomas to graduate and professional degrees, including a Juris Doctor degree. Kaplan Higher Education is part of Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).  For more information, visit www.kaplan.com.

Press contact: 

Michele Snipe

msnipe@kaplan.edu, (312) 706-6006

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