EDITORS' CORNER
A Purdue University campus that borders the city of Chicago is reportedly struggling to find qualified Americans to teach marketing classes for $127,000 per year. The questionable use of H1-B visas by a public university fits into a broader problem of the abuse of the program.
Purdue University Northwest, located in the Indiana suburb of Hammond, posted an H1-B job listing for an “assistant professor of marketing.”
The posting drew criticism from Andrew Ireland, a Republican state representative.
“Does anyone seriously believe no American in the Chicago area can teach marketing for $127,500 a year,” he asked on X. “The same university even has a PHD program for marketing students.”
Purdue University filed 228 H1-B applications in the 2025 fiscal year, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s “Employer Data Hub.” The university system has hired 1,900 H1-B workers since 2009.
Rep. Ireland raises an important point, since these visas are supposed to be for “occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge.”
Another requirement is that employers are truly unable to find a qualified American to fill the role. But this is not the first time the red state university has claimed it cannot find someone to fill a relatively common job position.
As recently reported by The College Fix, Purdue’s flagship campus, despite a robust STEM program, said it simply cannot find any Americans to fill data scientist jobs. Same for Indiana University, which claimed it could not fill software engineering jobs without hiring foreigners.
Abuse of H1-B visas has drawn bipartisan concern, as America First Republicans argue Americans should be prioritized, while liberal Democrats rightly say big corporations are abusing the system.
“The intent of the H-1B visa program is to grow the economy and supplement the U.S. workforce—not replace it,” Senator Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., wrote in a recent message to President Trump. “Given the number of unemployed American college graduates with relevant degrees and skills, the fact that corporations are laying off American workers while simultaneously hiring foreign H-1B workers raises important questions.”
He is right, but H1-B abuse is committed not just by large tech corporations, but also by public universities. Reform (or elimination) is needed.
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