Dearborn Financial Services and Fraternal Field Managers Association Partner to Meet Education Needs of Fraternal Insurance Industry

Chicago, IL - June 4, 2001 - Dearborn Financial Services, a Kaplan Professional Company, announces its partnership with the Fraternal Field Managers Association (FFMA) which recognizes Dearborn as the FFMA's exclusively endorsed provider of insurance and securities education to all 91 member societies and 37 state fraternal congresses of the National Fraternal Congress of America (NFCA). Members can access Dearborn's online courses, print materials, and interactive CD-ROMs, and find local classroom sites where they can prepare for insurance and securities licenses as well as continuing education credits.

"For decades, Dearborn has worked closely with the FFMA and NFCA, providing the education content and administrative support for the Fraternal Insurance Counselor (FIC) and the Fraternal Insurance Counselor Fellow (FICF) designation programs. We are thrilled to expand our longstanding relationship with these organizations," said Dan Tromblay, CLU, ChFC, Dearborn's Vice President of Strategic Alliances. "This agreement elevates our relationship at a time when, by all indications, the fraternal insurance industry is poised for growth."

Tromblay cited several developments pointing to the potential for growth in the fraternal market. "The fraternal industry wants its agents to have broad industry education and skills in order to keep pace with the expectations of today's consumers, and this is just the beginning," he observed. "At a recent national meeting of the FFMA, fraternal societies talked about expanding their product lines to include newer products like long-term care insurance, variable contracts and mutual funds," Tromblay noted. He added, "It's safe to say that the new administration in Washington, with its promotion of volunteerism and 'compassionate conservatism,' is drawing attention to the core values of fraternalism - a development that has not been lost on fraternal benefit societies."

"The FFMA Board of Directors is committed to adding value to NFCA membership, and the Dearborn partnership fits perfectly with our mission to provide members with top quality services, " said Robert Breseman, Secretary-Treasurer of the FFMA. "We selected Dearborn because of their commitment to quality education and their proven track record in supporting the FFMA and the NFCA member societies we serve."

Dearborn Financial Services (www.dearborn.com) is a leading provider of innovative education and compliance solutions to the financial services industry, offering an integrated portfolio that includes registration services, firm element needs analysis and training plan development, securities and insurance prelicensing training, continuing education, and compliance management services. For more than 30 years Dearborn has partnered with securities firms, insurance companies, brokerage houses, and banks to provide solutions that maximize training resources, boost productivity and optimize market performance. Dearborn Financial Services is a division of Kaplan Professional (www.kaplanprofessional.com), a unit of Kaplan, Inc. that provides licensing and continuing education training, certification, and professional development courses for securities, insurance, financial services, legal, IT, and real estate professionals and corporations. Kaplan, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).

Founded in 1936, the Fraternal Field Managers' Association represents the field agencies of the National Fraternal Congress of America. The FFMA has long promoted the advancement of industry knowledge among its members, and has as its stated objective, "The promotion of higher business, ethical and efficiency standards in the field departments of the Fraternal Life Insurance Societies of America." The FIC and FICF professional designations, sponsored by the FFMA, were created with this objective in mind. The FFMA is one of ten sections of the National Fraternal Congress of America, an organization of fraternal benefit societies that promotes the general welfare of the fraternal benefit system by uniting fraternal benefit societies in matters of mutual concern.

Press Contact: Liz Lindley liz_Lindley@kaplan.com, (212) 492-5890