Purdue's controversial deal to buy for-profit Kaplan University gets final OK

The Higher Learning Commission, which accredits more than 1,000 colleges and universities in 19 states, sent a notice of approval Monday on a deal first announced in April 2017 and quietly in the works at least five months before for that.

The news was greeted with celebration from Daniels and his administration, along with a sense of resignation from faculty members who have collected names on petitions and protested that they were kept in the dark as Purdue moved to buy the for-profit university and convert it into a nonprofit arm of the Purdue system. The deal was widely watched, criticized and praised in higher education circles.

“We are grateful for the Higher Learning Commission’s decision to approve Purdue University’s conversion of Kaplan University to Indiana’s newest public institution of higher education, Purdue Global,” Daniels said in a university release.

“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,” Daniels 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.”