The Washington Post. The very name evokes an era of wire taps, hotel break-ins, secret slush funds and late night meetings in empty car-parks.

The Watergate scandal and consequent downfall of Richard Milhouse Nixon was the paper's greatest moment and books by its investigative journalist Bob Woodward continue to dominate US best seller lists.

But great investigative writing alone is not enough to provide financial security for the paper's publisher, the Washington Post Company. Over the years the company has diversified in an attempt to construct layers of financial protection around the newspaper asset.

One of these layers has been education, a sector not normally expected to strengthen the balance sheets of most companies.

For years the Washington Post Company operated an education "unit" (the word company was rarely used) called Kaplan. It mainly excelled in test preparation materials and rarely featured prominently in the financial press. Its education centres were active, but not necessarily very dynamic.

Back in 1994, Washington Post company chairman Donald E Graham, son of legendary publisher Katherine Graham, wondered whether he should close the education unit.

Instead he appointed a young former Newsweek marketing executive Jonathan Grayer as chief executive. Mr Grayer joined the Washington Post company in 1990 in the marketing department of Newsweek, Inc, where he eventually became marketing director.

He joined Kaplan in 1991 as regional operations director, and held several titles before assuming responsibility as president and chief executive in July 1994. Mr Grayer became chairman in February 2002.

Holding an MBA from the Harvard Business School, Greyer wanted to try and re-invent the small - at least by the standards of corporate America - educational company. While he was enthusiastic, Mr Grayer expected to only spend about two years at Kaplan as chief executive. It was only an $80 million turnover company, he says.

The company costs were too high, its infrastructure old and most of its products a little jaded. "It was a teetering giant, being picked off by its rivals," is how Mr Grayer remembers the company back then.

Upon his appointment a turnaround plan swing into action. People were hired from a range of disciplines to get Kaplan back on its feet. It seems to have worked. Today Kaplan has become the Post's financial crown jewel.

Turnover is expected to pass $1 billion in 2004, as Mr Grayer uses acquisitions to push Kaplan far beyond its roots in SAT test preparation. Amazingly Kaplan has now got a larger turnover than the newspaper itself.

The company, once a footnote in the Washington Post company accounts, now runs the following: America's biggest online law school, Concord Law School; a network of commercial colleges and an after-school tutoring service.

Since last year it has had a presence in Ireland via the acquisition of the Dublin Business School.

While the purchase price was never disclosed, the arrival of Kaplan into the Irish education sector was unusual because most large third level colleges in the Republic are State funded, with a small contribution from private industry.

The Dublin Business School is a different animal - an entirely privately funded institution with virtually no links with the Department of Education or the Higher Education Authority.

Up to now it had little resources and many regarded Raymond Kearns's colleges (the Institute of Education and Portobello College) as far more significant. With Kaplan on board Dublin Business School is likely to become a much more serious player in the third level sector.

It even has Prof Brian Farrell, described by Mr Grayer as "Ireland's Walter Kronkite", on board as chairman.

Mr Grayer sees Dublin Business School as a worthwhile investment for a variety of reasons. Obviously one of them is giving Kaplan a greater presence in Europe, but there are others.

"The greatest export ever invented is higher education. The Dublin Business School will have a balance of local and international students in future. International students want to come to Dublin, that is clear," he says.

"It was once only the elite who went abroad for education, but business education has ended that. So Dublin and Ireland, which are both great economic success stories, are set to benefit from this. Dublin Business School has the brand to attract the international students of today."

The college, which has 5,500 students, is now getting 15 per cent of its entrants from overseas. With overseas students often paying fees in excess of €10,000 at some Irish colleges, this kind of business is certainly lucrative.

One way to increase the college's profile, says Mr Grayer, could be to set up offshoots of the Dublin Business School in other countries. The option is being seriously studied by Kaplan, he says. "We are certainly looking at the idea of satellite campuses," he says.

He admits that Dublin Business School is never going to compete domestically with the Ireland's answer to the Ivy League - TCD, UCD etc. But it can carve out a niche of its own.

While describing Ireland as "a fun place to be" for international students, Mr Grayer appears unimpressed by Ireland Inc's attempts to roll-out broadband.

"Ireland's education and industrial development could be stunted if penetration levels remain as they are." He is amazed that more schools and colleges here are not wired up. He says in the US consumers simply demand quicker connectivity.

He relayed these views directly last week to Mary Hanafin, the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, who is responsible for the information society.

His theory is simple. National education and training programmes will increasingly be delivered online and the only way students - many of them in second chance education schemes - will be able to access such material will be via the Net and via high-speed broadband.

If the Government doesn't find some way to roll out broadband faster, it will have to provide the more expensive alternative of concrete buildings with lectures halls. Mr Grayer believes the Government needs to do something to rid the State of old dial-up systems.

A recent conference in Dundalk heard that only 0.9 per cent of the population can access broadband. "Online learning is booming in the US. It has not replaced traditional higher education programs, but rather has expanded the market - opening a path for adults otherwise restricted by work, family responsibilities, or geographic location. Schools like Kaplan enable them to acquire the skills necessary to advance their careers."

"Ireland's ability to offer viable online learning programs depends on the adoption of broadband. You simply can't offer effective educational programs online using dial-up connections. Think about how infrequently you'd turn on the lights if you had to wait six minutes for them to go on," he says.