Former for-profit business college in Hagerstown, Maryland (1938–2007), later part of Kaplan and Purdue.
Hagerstown Business College was founded in 1938 by Edward J. Hajek, beginning with just 12 students in the basement of the Professional Arts Building on Public Square. The institution pioneered specialized medical secretarial training in 1949, becoming one of the first schools in the country to offer such a program. It added a legal secretarial program around 1961 and was approved to grant associate degrees in 1973. The college relocated to a newly constructed 7.5-acre campus in north Hagerstown in 1985. In 2007, HBC was renamed Kaplan College and approved to offer bachelor's degrees. The institution was subsequently acquired by Purdue University in 2017, becoming Purdue University Global in April 2018, before ceasing physical operations in August 2019.
HBC offered associate degrees and certificates in business, secretarial studies, medical and legal assisting, health information technology, computer technology, and graphic design. The college was accredited by The Association of Independent Colleges and Schools (1983) and later achieved regional accreditation as a Kaplan University campus (2009). Programs ranged from diploma certificates to associate degrees, with bachelor's degree programs added in 2007.
The college operated a 7.5-acre residential campus in Hagerstown with burgundy and gray school colors and the Folcrum Fox mascot. The campus experienced a significant setback in 1991 when an arson fire destroyed the administration building. Following its transition to Purdue University Global in 2018, the Hagerstown location transitioned to fully online operations in August 2019.