Purdue University Global Borrowers: The School's Kaplan History Could Matter for Borrower Defense

If you attended Purdue University Global or the former Kaplan University and walked away with federal student loan debt after being told things about employment, career advancement, tuition, financial aid, educational services, licensing, or program outcomes that did not match reality, your experience may deserve a closer look.

There is an important reason borrowers are researching this school for Borrower Defense to Repayment: Purdue University Global is specifically named in Exhibit C of the Sweet v. Cardona Borrower Defense settlement.

👉 View the Sweet v. Cardona Exhibit C filing

And Purdue itself confirms the historical connection. Purdue Global was formed in 2018 when Purdue acquired the institutional operations and assets of Kaplan University.

👉 See Purdue Global's official history

That history matters because Kaplan and related Kaplan higher-education operations were the subject of years of federal scrutiny, government investigations, litigation, and settlements.

Congress Examined Kaplan's Recruiting Tactics

One of the most significant public records comes from the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

During its investigation of the for-profit college industry, the Committee published Kaplan University recruiting materials instructing admissions personnel to explore prospective students' "pain and fear" and create urgency around enrollment. The Committee cited Kaplan documents directing recruiters to probe prospects' emotions, fears, and dreams as part of the sales process.

👉 Read the Senate HELP Committee findings on Kaplan recruiting

The Senate's broader investigation also reported extremely high withdrawal rates within Kaplan Higher Education during the period studied, including a reported 68 percent withdrawal rate among bachelor's students in the Committee's dataset.

👉Read the Senate investigation report

For a Borrower Defense applicant, those records can be especially relevant when the borrower's own experience involved aggressive enrollment pressure, promises of a better career, or representations designed to convince the student to enroll quickly.

Massachusetts Attorney General Settlement Over Kaplan Recruiting and Job Placement Claims

Kaplan-related schools also faced state enforcement.

In 2015, the Massachusetts Attorney General announced a settlement with Kaplan Higher Education LLC involving Kaplan Career Institute. The Attorney General alleged that the school used unfair recruiting tactics and misleading representations about educational programs and employment, including job-placement figures that the state alleged were materially overstated.

Kaplan agreed to provide approximately 1.375 million dollars in relief to eligible former students.

👉 Read the Massachusetts Attorney General announcement

This enforcement action concerned Kaplan Career Institute rather than Kaplan University itself, so it should not be presented as proof of misconduct against every Purdue Global or Kaplan University borrower. But it is part of the documented regulatory history surrounding Kaplan Higher Education and may provide useful background when a borrower experienced similar recruiting or employment representations.

Justice Department Settlement Involving Federal Student Aid

Also in 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Kaplan Higher Education would pay approximately 1.3 million dollars to resolve False Claims Act allegations involving Kaplan campuses in Texas.

The whistleblower allegations asserted that Kaplan sought and retained federal financial aid for medical-assistant courses taught by instructors who allegedly did not satisfy Texas requirements. Most of the settlement amount was designated for tuition refunds to affected students.

👉 Read the U.S. Department of Justice settlement announcement

Again, this involved particular Kaplan campuses and programs, not every Kaplan University or Purdue Global program. The value for a Borrower Defense applicant is in identifying whether their own experience resembles documented problems involving educational quality, qualifications, recruiting, or federal aid.

Purdue Global Faced Criticism Over Student Arbitration Agreements

Concerns did not disappear immediately after the Purdue acquisition.

In 2018, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Sherrod Brown publicly urged Purdue to eliminate a Purdue Global enrollment policy requiring students to accept pre-dispute mandatory arbitration and class-action restrictions. The senators said the practice had been inherited from Kaplan and argued that students should retain the ability to pursue claims involving alleged misconduct.

👉 Read the senators' Purdue Global letter and announcement

Purdue University faculty governance records likewise documented opposition to forced arbitration for Purdue Global students. Purdue Global subsequently stopped requiring the agreements.

Purdue University Global Is on Sweet v. Cardona Exhibit C

For many borrowers, this may be the most important fact.

Purdue University Global appears by name on Sweet v. Cardona Settlement Agreement Exhibit C under Graham Holdings Company - Kaplan.

Under the Sweet settlement, certain class members who had qualifying Borrower Defense applications pending as of June 22, 2022 and whose applications related to Exhibit C schools were placed in the settlement's automatic-relief group.

👉 Learn about Sweet v. Cardona class membership

Important: being a Purdue Global or Kaplan borrower does not, by itself, mean that a new Borrower Defense application will automatically be approved. Exhibit C is powerful historical context, but present-day applicants generally still need to explain what their school represented or concealed, why it was false or misleading, how they relied on it, and what harm resulted. Federal Student Aid's current Borrower Defense application specifically asks borrowers for this type of detail.

Could Your Purdue Global or Kaplan Experience Support Borrower Defense?

Potentially important issues include job-placement or career promises; aggressive or emotionally pressured recruiting; misleading statements about tuition, financial aid, or total program cost; representations about accreditation, certification, licensing, transferability, or credentials; and promises about educational services, faculty, clinical placements, or other program features that were important to your decision to enroll or borrow.

The strongest Borrower Defense claims are based on what actually happened to you, supported where possible by emails, advertisements, enrollment documents, catalogs, screenshots, financial-aid records, transcripts, communications with school representatives, and credible public evidence showing a broader pattern.

Think Purdue Global or Kaplan Misled You? Review Your Options Now.

If the program you received was materially different from what you were promised, or if representations about employment, career advancement, cost, financial aid, educational services, licensing, or program outcomes influenced your decision to enroll and take out federal loans, Borrower Defense to Repayment may be worth investigating.

Want to prepare the application yourself?

Use our Borrower Defense DIY Guide.

Want to see misconduct evidence involving other colleges?

Browse schools with usable Borrower Defense misconduct evidence.

You can also search our complete list of universities and schools to see whether your institution has documented lawsuits, investigations, settlements, or regulatory findings.

Do not assume your student loan debt has to follow you forever simply because the school remains open. If you believe Purdue University Global or Kaplan University materially misled you, preserve your records and evaluate whether your experience supports a Borrower Defense claim.

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