Purdue University will launch its new online school next month, after clearing the final hurdle in a roughly year-long approval process, school officials announced Monday.

The Higher Learning Commission, the school’s accreditor, gave its sign-off to the public university’s plans to form the new Purdue University Global by acquiring online for-profit Kaplan University, according to a news release from Purdue, which is based in Indiana. The arrangement had previously been approved by state and federal education officials.

“This gives us a chance to move forward promptly with a successful start,” Purdue President Mitch Daniels said in the news release. “We are excited to become part of the Purdue University system and offer working adults a supportive and practical education tailored specifically to them.”

The announcement comes 11 months after the university first went public with its plans to acquire Kaplan, one of the top enrollers of active-duty military students in fiscal 2016. Kaplan’s 30,000 students will be able to maintain their degree programs and current instructors, but they will be receiving diplomas that bear the Purdue name. Additionally, Kaplan President Betty Vandenbosch will become chancellor of the new school.

As Military Times previously reported, the schools included in the acquisition are Kaplan’s School of Business and Information Technology, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Concord Law School, Open College at Kaplan University, and Kaplan’s general education, health services and nursing programs.

About Natalie Gross

Military Times contributor and former reporter Natalie Gross hosts the Spouse Angle podcast. She grew up in a military family and has a master's degree in journalism from Georgetown University.

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