Dearborn Financial Services Appoints Bryan Austin As New Executive Vice President and Managing Director

Veteran of E-Learning Industry to Provide Strategic Leadership for Future Growth of Dearborn Securities, Insurance and Banking Businesses

(Chicago, IL - August 28, 2002) - In a move signaling heightened focus on business development and growth, Dearborn Financial Services, a Kaplan Professional company and a leading provider of innovative education and compliance solutions to the financial services industry, has appointed Bryan L. Austin to lead its operations as Executive Vice President and Managing Director. Austin, a highly regarded industry executive, will oversee all operations and management for the Financial Services business unit, including sales, marketing, product development, field operations, and applications development.

A 25-year veteran of the e-learning industry, Austin holds a wealth of experience in management and business development. He joins Dearborn from SkillSoft Corporation, one of the largest providers of web-based learning and support tools for businesses, where, as General Manager, Custom Solutions, he started and ran the company's business unit for customized online learning solutions. Prior to that, Austin held the position of Senior Vice President at eMind.com, a provider for online compliance and training solutions for the financial services industry. While at eMind, he built the company's initial sales force and service staff and significantly grew the corporate customer base to include several Fortune 500 companies.

Additionally, Austin spent 14 years at NETg, one of the world's largest learning companies, where he served in a variety of field and corporate positions, including VP of Marketing, VP of North American Sales and Director of Strategic alliances. Achievements during his tenure at NETg included generating aggressive revenue growth with each team he managed, turning the poorest performing region into the company's top sales region within less than two years, and initiating key strategic alliances.

"Bryan's combination of skills and background are ideal for the type of leadership needed to build our financial services businesses," said Eric Cantor, President, Kaplan Professional. "Not only does he have extensive experience in developing, managing and running businesses, but he has also worked with some of the top companies in e-learning and knows the industry well. We are very pleased to have Bryan join our management team, and have no doubt he will play an integral role in the future direction of our business."

Austin, who will be based in Chicago, IL, will report directly to Eric Cantor, President of Kaplan Professional.

Austin is an alumnus of Texas Christian University, where he graduated cum laude in 1977 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.

About Dearborn Financial Services
Dearborn Financial Services (www.dearborn.com), a Kaplan Professional company, is a leading provider of pre-licensing and continuing education training and certification for securities, insurance and financial services professionals. Offering an array of tools including online courses, classroom instruction, interactive CD-ROMs, and print materials, Dearborn supplies education courseware to corporations, independent schools, and colleges, and conducts classes in more than 120 locations in the U.S. and abroad. For more than 30 years, Dearborn has worked with top insurance companies, securities firms, brokerage houses, and banks, providing high-quality, professional, and personalized education to executives and staff. Kaplan Professional (www.kaplanprofessional.com) is a unit of Kaplan, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO), and includes world-class brands Schweser Study Program, Dearborn Trade Publishing, Perfect Access Speer, Dearborn Real Estate Education, Self Test Software, Kaplan Professional Real Estate Schools, and Call Center Solutions.

Press Contacts:

Carina Wong
Tel: 212-492-5992
carina_wong@kaplan.com

Tammy Fang
Tel: 212-492-5965
tammy_fang@kaplan.com

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