SAN DIEGO, Oct. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE: BPI), a provider of post-secondary education services, has appointed Niraj (Raj) Kaji as Vice President of Corporate Development.

Reporting to Doug Abts, senior vice president of strategy and corporate development, Kaji will manage the mergers and acquisitions process for Bridgepoint Education and evaluate attractive adjacent markets.  

"Raj brings a wealth of post-secondary education insight to Bridgepoint Education," stated Abts. "His market knowledge, transaction expertise, experience base, and personal network will add tremendous value to our corporate development activities. We're very excited to have someone of Raj's caliber join our team."

In his 14-year career, Kaji has held various executive management positions in investment banking, general management and business development. He has also served on the founding teams of three startup organizations. Among his prior roles, Kaji served as a Vice President at Walden University where he was responsible for approximately 6,000 students and 225 employees. He was also a mergers and acquisitions professional for Laureate Education where he helped to execute acquisitions domestically and internationally.

About Bridgepoint Education

Bridgepoint Education's postsecondary education services focus on offering associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in such disciplines as business, education, psychology, social sciences and health sciences. Bridgepoint Education's regionally accredited academic institutions – Ashford University and University of the Rockies – deliver their programs online as well as at traditional campuses located in Clinton, Iowa, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. For more information about Bridgepoint Education, visit www.bridgepointeducation.com or call Shari Rodriguez, associate vice president of Public Relations, at 858.668.2580.

SOURCE Bridgepoint Education, Inc.