Innovative Program Reimagines the Gap Year with Exploration of Fields of Study, Interaction with Professionals, Work-Integrated Learning Projects
Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC)
Press Contact: Valerie Silverman Kerr, valerie@vsk-publicrelations.com, 914-806-6647
Twitter: @KapTestNews
New York, NY (May 12, 2020)—Kaplan, a leading global educational services provider, today launched Boost YearTM, an innovative online pre-college booster program to accelerate college and career readiness. Designed for pre-college students, Boost offers a focused and thoughtful approach for those who want to maximize their college and career trajectory, helping students make decisions on their next steps with greater confidence, from picking a major to choosing what courses of study may be the right fit to being prepared for what to do upon graduation.
With data showing that 30% of undergrads change their major at least once within three years of initial enrollment1, 40% of bachelors’ degree holders would study a different major if they had to do it all over again2, and only 35% of traditional college graduates feel higher education prepared them for the workforce3, Boost seeks to help bridge the gap between the college experience and career readiness. The 14-week Boost Fall online program, which will run from September – December 2020, will help students assess their interests and strengths, identify and explore target careers, understand and build core professional skills needed for their future and create a personalized go forward plan for their next steps. The subsequent Boost Spring program, which will run from January – April 2021, will enable students to apply their learnings to real world work experiences.
“College is one of the largest investments any family makes, and yet more and more data shows it isn’t yielding the desired outcome for graduates, even as college costs increase,” said Megan O’Connor, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Kaplan Test Prep. “Boost helps students make the most out of their college experience and provides exposure to professionals and actual work projects to better focus both their studies and career ambitions.”
The program structure for Boost Fall allows for flexibility, and will offer a combination of live instruction, on demand sessions, customized study, hands-on work experience projects, live interviews with professionals in a students’ area of work interest and ‘pulse checks’ as students’ interests evolve. Students will receive 1:1 mentoring with experienced Kaplan advisors dedicated to guiding students on their education and career paths as well as be part of a small cohort for networked learning and reflection.
Boost will also provide a partnership option for universities interested in offering such a program to their students deferring admission. This option will allow universities to have dedicated cohorts for their students as well as participate in portions of the program to stay connected with their students.
The first Boost cohort will run from September 14-December 18, 2020. For more information, go to www.boostbykaplan.com.
1 Department of Education, NCES Data https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018434.pdf
2 Second Thought: U.S. Adults Reflect on their Education Decisions, Strada/Gallup 2017 report https://www.sac.edu/research/PublishingImages/Pages/research-studies/Gallup-Strada%20Education%20Network%20June%202017%20Inaugural%20Report.pdf
318 Future Workforce Survey, McGraw-Hill https://s3.amazonaws.com/ecommerce-prod.mheducation.com/unitas/corporate/promotions/2018-future-workforce-survey-analysis.pdf
About Kaplan
Kaplan, Inc. provides individuals, educational Institutions, and businesses a broad array of educational services, including higher and professional education, test preparation, language training, corporate and leadership training, and student recruitment, online enablement and other university support services. Across its 80-plus year history, first as a small test-prep pioneer and then an early online education leader and now a global education provider, Kaplan has been recognized for expanding educational access and using technology and learning science innovations to continually improve outcomes for its students and partners. With operations in nearly 30 countries, today Kaplan has relationships and partnerships with 2,000-plus universities, colleges, schools and school districts, and more than 4,000 corporations and businesses globally. Kaplan is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC). For more information, please visit www.kaplan.com.
# # #