Blink and you might have missed that, last week, Purdue University acquired for-profit Kaplan University. From the WaPo:
Instead of folding the for-profit school into its operations in Indiana, Purdue plans to form a new, public university comprising of all 15 campuses and learning centers of Kaplan University, as well as 32,000 students and 3,000 employees. The state university will pay $1 upfront and enter into an agreement with an affiliate of Graham Holdings Company, the parent of Kaplan Inc. and Kaplan University, that could yield the company 12.5 percent of the new university’s revenue.
The deal calls for Kaplan to provide operational support, including marketing, human resources and financial aid administration, to the new institution for an initial term of 30 years with a buyout option after six years. Kaplan is not entitled to any expense reimbursement, until the new university has covered all of its operating costs and set aside $10 million in each of the first five years. Once those conditions are met, Graham Holdings will be reimbursed for its costs and receive a percentage of the school’s revenue, according to a company filing....
Indiana residents will receive discounted tuition. The newly formed school, still to be named, will rely on tuition and fundraising to cover operating expenses, not state appropriations. It will primarily operate online, with no plans to expand the physical footprint beyond the existing 15 locations.
There are so many odd aspects to this deal: An Indiana state university will operate a public university outside of the state, giving discounted tuition to Hoosiers attending the St. Louis MO, Lewiston ME and Hagerstown MD campuses. Graham Holdings has an ongoing profit stake in Purdue's business. And Purdue is adding taking on an existing educational institutional that carries, shall we say, some baggage.
My guess is that the prime driver for Purdue was acquiring deep capacities - technical, marketing and otherwise - in online education. It does seem like Purdue could have solved that simply by building up these strengths internally, so perhaps the idea is that Purdue will get a for-profit subsidiary that can generate profits without tainting the Purdue name itself.
And then there is the question of whether Purdue really wants to operate an unaccredited law school.
Isn't Purdue a chicken producer? All kidding aside, anything academic or intellectual to come out of Indiana is a positive even a partnership like this. Most of Indiana is a dystopian flat land scape of industrial soybean plantations, Dollar Generals, Diabetes clinics, corrugated metal Casey's, Walmarts, gun and pawn shops, newly constructed jails and used car lots with Saturns, Pontiacs, LeSabres and Hyundias. Their governor shut down the Planned Parenthood and STD rates soared. Indianapolis and New Harmony are the exceptions.
Posted by: Deep State Special Legal Counsel | May 01, 2017 at 07:40 PM
Deep State Special Legal Counsel, why did you give up posting under Captain Hruska Carswell, Continuance King?
Posted by: Anon JD/MD | May 03, 2017 at 01:31 PM
Anon JD/MD
This happened after side by side comparisons of the comments posted under these two monikers. One suspects this poster has often engaged in exchanges with "himself" ... but, a retreat when exposed would clearly suggest an intent long suspected, at least by me: to destroy the commenting feature on this site by lifting a leg and piddling on every hydrant, leaving the whole street stinking of "his" piss.
Posted by: anon | May 03, 2017 at 01:48 PM
BTW, the comment above referred to being exposed as posting comments under multiple aliases.
I don't support exposing the true identity of this vulgarian, or anyone else posting comments anonymously.
For those interested, though, I think the vulgarian has left many, many clues, in plain view.
Posted by: anon | May 03, 2017 at 09:11 PM