Kaplan Inc. is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Co., and each school under the name is accredited by an accrediting agency provided by the U.S. Department of Education, the Web site states.
Motz said that the name change will benefit students.
"Current students as well as our graduates and future students will have the opportunity to capitalize on that reputation," he said.
Michele Mazur, director of public relations for HBC, agreed that the Kaplan brand might work to students' advantage.
"We really want to recognize the strength of the brand and have our students benefit from the strength of the brand," she said.
HBC, which was founded in 1938 to train secretaries and bookkeepers, has grown to offer programs in business, computers, health care and legal studies.
The school launched its first bachelor's degree programs earlier this month.
"We've really come full circle as a college," Motz said, adding that the title "business college" no longer adequately describes HBC because of the variety of programs offered.
He said he hopes that the name change will draw attention to nonbusiness programs and attract more students to the school.
"We think it's going to help us from a marketing standpoint to get our array of programs a little more in the forefront of people's minds," he said.
Motz said no other major changes are expected to accompany the name change.
"It's going to help us to do, and continue to do, what we've always done even better," Motz said.
