I received the following email from Bill V. Mullen, Professor of American Studies, Purdue University, Vice-president of Purdue AAUP:

American Association of University Professors members in Indiana have won another victory to reclaim Purdue University for students, not corporate profit.

After mounting pressure from an Indiana AAUP statewide campaign, the Kaplan-run Purdue University Global has announced an end to the use of a mandatory arbitration agreement against students.  The agreement, contained within documents required for enrollment in the online university, stripped students of their legal rights to sue or join a class action lawsuit in cases of abuse.  Kaplan, a for-profit university purchased by Purdue in 2017 and charged with running its online campus, has been the subject of multiple federal and state investigations for misleading marketing, inaccurate job placement numbers, and other false claims.

Purdue Global announced that they will drop the abusive enrollment policy after the Indiana AAUP and allies brought it to light.  Activists alerted regional accrediting agency the Higher Learning Commission, and eight AAUP chapters and several university senates in the state passed resolutions demanding an end to mandatory arbitration against students.  The victory arrives on the heels of another recent faculty win at Purdue in fall 2018 when Indiana AAUP’s public pressure campaign successfully ended the use of non-disclosure agreements as a condition of faculty employment.

Recent wins by Indiana AAUP chapters set crucial limits to the privatization of public higher education, which threatens to erode academic freedom, shared governance, educational quality, and ultimately student success.  These limits establish a precedent for faculty at colleges and universities around the country who want to reclaim higher education for students, not corporate profit.

For more on the end to mandatory arbitration read Inside Higher Ed’s “Purdue Global Nixes Student Arbitration Agreement” and for more on the fall 2018 NDA win, check out Inside Higher Ed’s “Purdue Global Nondisclosure Agreement Gone.”

The AAUP invites faculty to join their organization at this website.