Industry Leader Kaplan Launches Online TOEFL Skills Assessment

New York (May 8, 2001) Kaplan, Inc., a leading education and career services company, today launched TOEFL Skills Assessment, an entirely online introduction to the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Accessible at Kaplan's test preparation and admissions Web site www.kaptest.com, the TOEFL Skills Assessment expands access to the hundreds of thousands of international students applying to American universities and professional schools.

"Our new online TOEFL Skills Assessment is a targeted, convenient, low-price product that enables students to find out where they stand on the TOEFL," said Leigh-Ellen Louie, President of Kaplan International Programs. "The program measures the same skills as the TOEFL, giving students an introduction to the test, customized feedback on their performance and an approximation of their English proficiency level."

Students first log onto the assessment portion, which consists of 75 questions including listening comprehension, structure and reading comprehension. After completing the assessment, students receive targeted instructional feedback on TOEFL question types and test-taking strategies as well as diagnostic feedback on the students' own test-taking strengths and weaknesses. The TOEFL Skills Assessment is priced at $20 and students can work through the program in three to four hours.

"Kaplan has been a leader in establishing the Internet as an effective mode of educational delivery," said Sharon Miller, Vice President and General Manager of Kaplan Test Prep Online. "Through kaptest.com, students worldwide can take advantage of the convenience and flexibility of the Internet, receiving Kaplan's hallmark assessment and instruction regardless of their proximity to a Kaplan center."

More than half a million international students studied in the United States this year, an increase of 4.8% over last year's total, according to the Institute of International Education. This number is expected to grow as the prestige of American degrees and the need for English language skills increase. Approximately 600,000 people take the TOEFL every year worldwide.

Kaplan's online TOEFL Skills Assessment product adds to Kaplan's range of TOEFL preparation programs. Through Kaplan's international centers, students can access Kaplan's English for TOEFL and University Preparation, which focuses on the academic English language skills needed for the TOEFL as well as the skills needed to gain admission to and succeed in an American college or university.

Kaplan's international unit operates throughout the U.S. and abroad. In the U.S., Kaplan offers programs at eleven centers located on college campuses and in major metropolitan areas. Kaplan International is expanding rapidly overseas, currently operating 37 centers in 15 countries spanning Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, mainly through local licensees.

Kaplan's International Programs unit offers students and professionals a full range of programs including intensive English instruction, test preparation, university preparation and professional English training. Kaplan International also provides services to government and corporate sponsors including placement at top American universities, fellowship management, academic monitoring and reporting and financial administration. International students and professionals either travel to Kaplan International's own eleven U.S. centers or enroll in one of Kaplan's licensed centers abroad.

About Kaplan
Kaplan, Inc. (www.kaplan.com) is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Kaplan offers test prep and admissions services (www.kaptest.com); K-12 educational programs for kids and parents through SCORE! Learning, Inc. and eSCORE.com; on-site education and professional development at schools and universities; books and software; continuing education and licensing services for individuals and corporations through Kaplan Professional (www.kaplanprofessional.com); and an extensive array of bachelor and associate degrees, certificate and diploma programs through The Kaplan Colleges group of institutions at (www.KaplanCollege.com), which includes Concord University School of Law, the nation's only online law school (www.concordlawschool.com). Kaplan, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).

Press Contact: Katherine Engstrom
k_engstrom@kaplan.com, (212) 974-2769

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