Purdue Gets Final Approval to Buy For-Profit Kaplan

Purdue University’s accrediting agency has approved its acquisition of the for-profit institution Kaplan University, allowing plans to move forward for the launch of the controversial Purdue Global in April.

The Higher Learning Commision notified Mitch Daniels, president of Purdue, of its decision on Monday, according to Purdue. Purdue University and Kaplan University will combine to form “Indiana’s newest public institution of higher education,” Daniels said in the university’s statement.

“It opens a new era for our institution, with the opportunity to expand our land-grant mission to millions of adult students around the country,” he said. “That opportunity brings with it the responsibility to provide the highest quality online education, not only to our new adult learners, but to all residential and online Boilermaker students. Starting today, Purdue University hopes to take a leading role in online learning nationally.”

In April 2017 the university announced that after five months of private negotiations, it had agreed to buy Kaplan University from Graham Holdings for a dollar and convert it into a nonprofit organization. Daniels argued the deal was an opportunity for Purdue to expand its mission as a land-grant university, but Purdue faculty members protested, saying they had not been consulted and raising concerns about how the new entity would be managed. While Purdue Global will offer in-state discounted tuition, it will not accept state funding and it will be exempt from public-records laws.

Rancor between Daniels and some faculty members didn’t diminish with time. In February, Daniels said that any faculty members who had signed a letter opposing the deal had “been misled,” and that he would have given the letter an F.

Daniels will be president of Purdue Global, with the current Kaplan president, Betty Vandenbosch, becoming Purdue Global’s chancellor. In a written statement Vandenbosch called the commission’s decision “fast and unequivocal.”