Apr 28, 2017

Purdue University buys for-profit Kaplan U

AP Photo/Doug McSchooler

Purdue University has agreed to acquire Kaplan University, the for-profit higher education business of Kaplan Inc., which is owned by Graham Holdings Co. The upfront cost is just a symbolic dollar, but Purdue would continue to operate Kaplan U's online programs and 15 physical campuses and learning centers (around 32k total students) for at least five years at a cost of $10 million per year. Then there are a bunch of additional reimbursement machinations, with Purdue saying no state funds will be used.

Why it matters: Public universities aren't usually on the M&A buy-side, let alone of large for-profit companies that they want to convert into nonprofits. This also has the potential to shakeup the flailing online education market.

Bottom line: "Like most large for-profits, Kaplan University has lost students and revenue in recent years. The sector faces rising competition from nonprofits and a stigma due to high-profile investigations and lawsuits over some companies' misleading of students." ― Paul Fain & Rick Seltzer

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Axios

Bernie Sanders wins Nevada caucus

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders waves to supporters at a campaign rally on Friday in Las Vegas. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Sen. Bernie Sanders is projected to handily win the Nevada Democratic primary caucus, becoming the clear frontrunner among 2020 Democratic presidential primary election candidates.

Why it matters: Nevada is the first state with a diverse population to hold a nominating contest, highlighting candidates' abilities to connect with voters of color — particularly Latino voters.

Go deeperUpdated 12 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Axios

South Korea and Italy see spikes in coronavirus cases

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

The novel coronavirus has spread to more nations, and the U.S. reports a doubling of its confirmed cases to 34 — while noting these are mostly due to repatriated citizens, emphasizing there's no "community spread" yet in the United States.

The big picture: COVID-19 has now killed at least 2,446 people and infected almost 79,000 others, mostly in mainland China. New countries to announce infections recently include Israel and Lebanon, while Iran reported its sixth death from the virus. South Korea's confirmed cases jumped from 204 Friday to 433 on Saturday and Italy's case count rose from 3 to 62 by Saturday.

Go deeperUpdated 2 hours ago - Health

Rebecca Falconer

Heat wave melts 20% of snow cover from Antarctic island in days

The effects of February's record heat wave on Eagle Island in Antarctica. Photo: NASA

Antarctica's Eagle Island now has a side that's almost ice-free following this month's searing heat wave in the region, images released by NASA show.

Why it maters: "The warm spell caused widespread melting on nearby glaciers," NASA said in its report. It's the third major melt event of the 2019-2020 Southern Hemisphere summer, following warm spells in January and last November, according to the United Nation's World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Go deeper2 hours ago - Energy & Environment