Purdue University Global, Inc. (Purdue Global or PG) is a public online university that operates as a public-benefit corporation. It is part of the Purdue University system and is Purdue's online university for working adults. Its former owner, Graham Holdings Company, maintains an ongoing financial interest in Purdue Global's success.
Purdue University Global
The university specializes in educating working adults who have life experience and often some college credits. Its programs focus on career-oriented fields of study at the certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels. Purdue Global serves about 10,000 military-affiliated students consisting of uniformed personnel, veterans, and eligible dependents.[1]
Following several years of government scrutiny, media criticism, and significant enrollment decline, Graham Holdings Company sold Kaplan University to the Purdue University system for one dollar in March 2018.[10] Purdue rebranded the institution as Purdue University Global and agreed to employ Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of GHC, as the exclusive provider of nonacademic functions. Kaplan, Inc. agreed to assume responsibility for liabilities resulting before the transaction. According to the contract terms, Kaplan would receive 12.5 percent of the university's revenue, as long as funds are available after all operating expenses and guaranteed payments to Purdue have been covered.
In July 2019, Graham Holdings reported that Kaplan Higher Education's quarterly income had declined by 76 percent from the same period in 2018, caused by a combination of the sale to Purdue, Kaplan not qualifying for full reimbursement for it services from Purdue Global, and increased spending on marketing to support the launch of Purdue University Global.[34] In January 2020, Purdue University reported Purdue Global's 2019 fiscal year numbers, showing a $43 million loss due to what it called "a deliberate one-time, $28.5 million marketing investment" as it launched the new university as well as "$9 million in accrued but unpaid KHE fee that won't need to be paid until the cash flow is positive". According to the university, only "$5.5 million was a loss from operations."[35][36] Purdue Global projected that it would have an operating surplus in 2020.[37]
As of January 2020, following a $130 million marketing spend, the university claimed to have begun to reverse the enrollment decline in its first year of operation, growing 5 percent or 1,422 students to a total of 31,042 enrolled with 11 percent growth for bachelor's and graduate students, along with a 17 percent decline in certificate students, and a 5 percent decline in associate degree students.[38][39] Indiana residents are offered discounted tuition and Purdue employees and their families are offered free tuition.[40]
According to the contract terms, Kaplan would receive 12.5 percent of the university's revenue, as long as funds were available after all operating expenses and guaranteed payments to Purdue have been covered.[22] Kaplan guaranteed Purdue $10 million every year for the first five years. Kaplan would make up the difference if PG revenues were insufficient. At the time of purchase, Kaplan's owners paid $20 million to Purdue, pursuant to that agreement.[22][50] The agreement also stipulates that if Purdue alters the university's operations in a way that significantly reduces the school's revenues, Kaplan could seek reimbursement for 12.5 percent of the lost revenue. An independent financial analyst would be tasked to adjudicate the issue.[51] Since the acquisition, Purdue's leadership has made several changes including closing several physical locations where Kaplan University had operated.[52]
Each campus of the Purdue University system has its own accreditation, leadership, faculty, programs, and admissions policies. As a result, transfers between the campuses are highly limited.[58] Purdue Global is classified by the U.S. Department of Education as a four-year public university[59] but it does not receive state tax dollars due to its benefit corporation status, and it is exempt from some of the public records disclosure requirements of public universities in Indiana. According to the 2017 law that enabled Purdue or any other Indiana university to create an affiliated education institution,[60] it still must report financial, academic and student success data to Indiana regulators, and any decisions made by the traditional side of Purdue or emails received by Purdue's administration remain eligible to the open records law, even if they pertain to Purdue Global.[61]
In January 2019, the Purdue Exponent stated that faculty were not consulted on the deliberations for the Purdue Global acquisition.[127] Biologist David Sanders, a Purdue professor, university senate member, and local Democratic politician, hypothesized that the deal was enacted to help pay for the tuition freeze at the West Lafayette campus or that "'certain people see this as the future. I refer to it as the Walmart-ization of higher education....It's cheap, it's fast, but in two years, it'll be broken. The same thing is true with this sort of education.'" Sanders added he was concerned about Purdue University Global's $100 million marketing budget.[127]
That same month, professors at Purdue University complained that Purdue Global was enrolling traditional students, which was in opposition to what Global had originally promised.[128] The PG chancellor responded while there was no formal policy that prevented a full-time, traditional student from enrolling in a course as a non-degree seeking student, it was not the university's intent to enroll such students, and that only five of PG's 29,000 students enrolled in a single course in 2018.[129] In May 2019, three professors claimed that Purdue University Global was draining Purdue University's branch campuses, and the deal with Kaplan Higher Education was "online folly.[130] Purdue University CFO Bill Sullivan responded that the degree to which the piece "misread Purdue's financial statements and distorted both the financial state and mission of Purdue Global is truly disappointing and unfortunate." Sullivan added that "In negotiating the acquisition of Kaplan University, we crafted an agreement that provided a nearly impenetrable defense of Purdue's finances.[28]
We develop the competencies of career-focused students to empower them as ethical, insightful, and solution-oriented decision-makers, leaders, and lifelong learners in increasingly complex and diverse global environments. Faculty is supported as practitioners and scholars, committed to innovation in teaching and intellectual contribution.
document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Purdue University An equal access/equal opportunity university Integrity Statement Copyright Complaints Brand Toolkit Maintained by Purdue Information Technology
The goal of the conference is to promote the exchange of ideas among economists conducting quantitative analysis of global economic issues. Particular emphasis will be placed on applied general equilibrium methods, data, and application. Related theoretical and applied work is also welcome.
To conduct quality research and analyze globalization and its effect on political, cultural, and socio-economic conditions globally and in Northwest Indiana, the Chicago area, and the greater Midwest.
To contribute research, education, public communication, publication, and collaboration in the exploration of the problems and contradictions, domestic and global, resulting from the emerging transnational world.
Purdue University boasts an extensive network of partnerships with numerous international institutions and companies dedicated to fostering global learning, research, and engagement. These diverse collaborations, numbering in the hundreds, underscore Purdue's commitment to providing a well-rounded educational environment that transcends geographical boundaries. Purdue's global alliances underscore its dedication to providing students with a comprehensive education that transcends geographical boundaries, preparing them to navigate the complexities of our interconnected world.
A Global Studies education focuses on key issues in today's globalized world. Global Studies students are not simply given the tools to understand the processes of globalization and their consequences, they are also encouraged and empowered to intervene in those processes and shape their world. In global studies, students have faculty from interdisciplinary backgrounds who are training the next generation of global leaders in education, business, government, and social justice work.
The Global Studies Program provides Purdue undergraduates with a flexible yet rigorous interdisciplinary education in key issues confronting today's globalized world. Global Studies students at Purdue are ready for the world. Our students are not simply given the tools to understand the processes of globalization and their consequences, they are also encouraged and empowered to intervene in those processes and shape their world.
As a core team of faculty from various disciplinary backgrounds in the College of Liberal Arts, we are proud to say that we are in the business of training the next generation of global leaders in education, business, government, and social justice work.
Global Studies students now have a club! Do you want to work on community issues? Do you want to talk to high school students about things like climate change or migration? Then this is a club for you! Please contact club President Maggie Tienhaara for more information at mtienhaa@purdue.edu
We are dedicated to providing opportunities for our students to experience diverse communities across national lines. We accomplish this through intercultural events, culturally challenging coursework, study away programs, and high-quality research with global implications.
02a7112eeb