Kaplan admits that he has done very well financially as of late, but one finds from talking with him that he is suffering from a split personality. On the one hand, he is the kindly old schoolmaster, genuinely interested in the students who walk through his doors, concerned that his preparation material is always fresh. On the other hand, he has become a businessman far removed from Brooklyn and his humble origins. There is a push and a pull operating within him.

"The doctor didn't create the epidemic," he says in defense of accusations that he plays on student's fears. "The anxiety is there--remember that the students come to me for help." Kaplan does admit, however, that he has done a lot more advertising lately in "self-defense. I want the students to have a choice between us and some of those other test-prep organizations."

Kaplan also has a scholarship program and says that 10 per cent of his students receive financial aid upon proper documentation and a discussion of their credentials and motivation for college or graduate study.

It's time now for Kaplan to leave his Boston center (the second largest branch behind his Madison Avenue office in Manhattan),to go back to New York on the last shuttle. He kisses his daughters--who run the Boston center--goodbye.

"You know, the other day I was in New York and this college student came up to me and introduced himself. Turns out I had tutored his father when he was in high school in Brooklyn." Kaplan sighs and smiles. "If his Dad had told me way back then that I'd have 80 centers and a place like this," he continues, "I would have told him to have his head examined."

And with that, Stanley Kaplan takes one more look at the new center, opens the door that says "Stanley H. Kaplan," and walks out.