TO EDUCATION, LEGAL AFFAIRS AND BUSINESS EDITORS:

                     Kaplan Higher Education Online Names
                     Jack Goetz Dean of Graduate Studies

NEW YORK, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Kaplan Higher Education, a division of global educational services provider Kaplan, Inc. announced it has named Barry Currier, a senior official with the law school accrediting arm of the American Bar Association (ABA), as Concord Law School's new Dean commencing June 1, 2004. Currier serves as the senior deputy with the ABA's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, which is the recognized accrediting agency for legal education in the U.S.

Jack Goetz, founding and current Dean of Concord Law School, has been named Dean of Graduate Studies at Kaplan Higher Education Online, where he will coordinate the planning and development of online graduate programs, including the schools of Business and Education. Goetz will also retain the title of "Dean Emeritus" of Concord Law School.

Under Goetz's leadership, Concord has grown from 33 students in its inaugural year (1998) to serve a student body of nearly 1,500 working professionals -- placing it among the largest 10% of law schools in the U.S. Concord's student body is comprised of working professionals, family caregivers and others whose circumstances prevent them from pursuing a legal education at a fixed facility law school; 42% of the students already hold advanced degrees.

"In promoting Jack to this new role, we hope to apply his considerable talent and experience to replicate the kind of success we've had at Concord," said Andrew S. Rosen, President and Chief Operating Officer, Kaplan, Inc. "Additionally, Barry is a highly respected law professor and dean whose recent experience with the ABA will bring exciting new perspectives to Concord. We believe the remarkable success Concord has achieved will reach new levels under Barry's leadership."

Currier, former Dean and Professor at Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, has served the ABA's interests in handling issues of law school accreditation in the U.S. since 2000. In this role, he has been working with the committees of the Council that draft, administer, and apply the accreditation standards that the Council adopts. He has also been working closely with law school deans and faculty, lawyers, judges, university administrators and others across the country who have an interest in legal education.

Prior to his work with the ABA, Currier was Dean at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. Before that, for twenty years Currier was a professor at the University of Florida College of Law, including six years as Associate Dean. He also has taught at the law schools at Duke University, the University of Kentucky, and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Earlier in his career, Currier practiced law with Latham & Watkins. After completing law school at the University of Southern California, he was a law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Currier is an elected member of the Order of the Coif and the American Law Institute.

"As law school costs continue to rise, access to legal education becomes an increasingly important issue. The success of Concord in its first five years shows that there is a demand for quality, accessible legal education by individuals who have the interest, commitment and intellectual firepower to be successful in law school," said Currier. "I am impressed with the integrity and passion of the leadership of Concord and Kaplan, and I look forward to working with them to provide access to legal education to talented individuals who will use that education to promote the public good."

Goetz, a 25-year veteran of legal education who was acknowledged for his innovations at Concord with the award of the 2002 Distinguished Recognition Award by the Distance Education and Training Council, noted, "Barry Currier stands for high quality legal education on all levels. I am thrilled at the prospect of working with him and continuing the Kaplan mission of making education accessible and helping adults achieve their educational and career goals."

"Barry Currier is one of the best known and most highly respected leaders in the law school world," said Jeffrey Lewis, Dean of Saint Louis University School of Law and a former colleague of Currier's. "His experience as a professor and as a dean has given him extensive knowledge of the legal profession and legal education, and his passion for technology innovation make him an exceptional candidate to lead Concord."

Concord (www.concordlawschool.com) has been authorized to award the Juris Doctor degree by the California Bureau of Private Post-Secondary and Vocational Education and has complied with the registration requirements of the State Bar of California, which permits its graduates to apply for admission to the California Bar. Additionally, Concord is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). The DETC Accrediting Commission is listed by the U.S. Department of Education as a nationally recognized accrediting agency and is a recognized member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

Concord is part of Kaplan Higher Education (www.kaplanhighereducation.com), a group of institutions that offer fixed- facility and online certificate and degree programs. Each of the individual schools is separately accredited by one of several national or regional accrediting agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Education. With nearly 60 schools in 15 states and numerous online programs, Kaplan Higher Education served 43,000 students in 2003. Kaplan Higher Education is a division of Kaplan, Inc., which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).

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SOURCE  Kaplan Higher Education