Why We Give
Stanley Kaplan was a Brooklyn-born son of immigrants and first-generation college student who understood the power of education. What started at age 14 when he tutored peers in his basement became a lifelong devotion to teaching.
He believed that success should be based on merit, not heritage, wealth, or social status, and he saw test prep as a way to open doors, regardless of background. Stanley wasn’t just preparing students for the test, but a lifetime of success.
Because Kaplan’s mission and values are firmly rooted in this belief, Kaplan contributes to a number of initiatives that provide educational opportunities to those who might otherwise not have them.
Scholarships and Financial Relief
More than $28M in scholarships and financial support
Philanthropy
$600K in monetary and in-kind donations to the Kaplan Educational Foundation to help high-potential community college students transfer to competitive four year universities
Community Engagement
More than 5,000 hours of volunteering with community service groups by Kaplan employees
School Partnerships
Over 70 school partnerships serving low-income or underrepresented students
In 2020, Kaplan contributions included the following:
dollars in scholarships and financial support
donated to philanthropy
hours of volunteering
school partnerships
in matching employee donations*
*GHC matched employees’ charitable donations with a 2:1 match for contributions to educational institutions and organizations where the employee is an active volunteer, and a 1:1 match of any amount from $25 to $2,000 to any other eligible organization.
OUR VALUES
INTEGRITY – KNOWLEDGE – OPPORTUNITY – SUPPORT – RESULTS
SCHOLARSHIPS AND FINANCIAL RELIEF
We work to ease economic barriers to education by awarding scholarships and offering financial assistance. In the past few years, we have provided $28.8M in scholarships, tuition assistance and discounts
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Kaplan employees are committed to giving back. We volunteer time and knowledge to help make education more accessible. In 2020, our employees gave by:
- Graham Holdings Company (GHC) in 2020, GHC received $86K+ in charitable donation match requests from Kaplan employees to match donations.
- GHC matched employees’ charitable donations $93K+
- Donated 4,448 trees to California through One Tree Planted to support wildfire recovery efforts
PHILANTHROPY
In 2018, we supported the Kaplan Educational Foundation in its mission to help underrepresented community college students transfer to top four-year schools. This resulted in:
- donations of up to $600 thousand, including $300 thousand in in-kind services
- community college students transferring to schools like Yale, Brown, Wellesley, the University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS
Kaplan partners with organizations nationwide to support underrepresented communities’ access to education. These partnerships include:
- 54 Title I schools nationwide, delivering live, comprehensive college admissions prep at no cost to students in financial need
- 10 NYC public schools delivering prep for the Specialized High School Admissions Test to 4,800 middle school students in financial need in the NYC Department of Education’s DREAM program
- 30+ Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) providing test prep to their students who are seeking advanced degrees
- the New York Mets, where we share college preparedness advice, information, and scholarship opportunities for 5,000 high school students from the NYC area
- Read more about how we partner with the Denver Public Schools
