Purdue University, which is located in Indiana, USA, is once again facing flak for potentially hiring non-immigrant workers who are in the country on the ‘Specialty Occupations’ H-1B visa, a classification that allows US employers to hire foreign talent.
As anti-immigration sentiment continues to rise in America, the H-1B work visa program has especially come under fire, with the conservative crowd accusing employers of “abusing” it to replace American workers with “cheap” foreign labour. At a time when tensions regarding visa-related issues are at an all-time high in the US, netizens caught sight of Purdue rolling out multiple ‘Notices of Intent’ (NOI) to hire H-1B or E-3 visa-holding employees.
The fresh notices are attracting negative attention months after Indiana’s Republican Representative Andrew Ireland called out Purdue University Northwest for filing an H-1B visa to hire a foreign-born non-immigrant as an assistant professor of marketing at a salary of $127,500.
Purdue University’s new Notices of Intent to hire H-1B / E3 employees
The official Purdue website states, “H-1B regulations as listed above require an employer to notify all affected employees of its intent to hire H-1B/E-3 nonimmigrant workers and the terms of that employment, as specified in the Labor Condition Application (LCA) filed with the US Department of Labor. The LCA informs affected employees of their rights and ability to file complaints if they believe violations have occurred.”
“LCAs are available for virtual public inspection, by appointment, by emailing intlscholars@purdue.edu. Complaints alleging misrepresentation of material facts in the labor condition application and/or failure to comply with the terms of the labor condition application may be filed with any office of the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor.”
The public research university that advances discoveries in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) has listed over 10 such positions addressed to work visa holders. With their period of H-1B employment ranging from 2026 to 2029, each post’s salary was somewhere between $57,000 and $174,000.06.
The posts listed on the website seek to employ one H-1B worker each. They are as follows:
- 1 Lecturer for the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences (Wage – $98,000)
- 1 Lecturer for the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Wage – $87719.94)
- 1 Post-Doctoral Research Associate for the Department of Materials Engineering (Wage – $62787.97)
- 1 Post Doc Research Associate for the Department of Physics and Astronomy (Wage – $58599.96)
- 1 Post Doc Research Associate for the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources (Wage – $57,000)
- 1 Professor for the School of Engineering Education (Wage – $124648.32)
- 1 Research Assistant Professor for the Institutes and Centers at Discovery Park District – Center for Cancer Research PTHRC (Wage – $97375.08)
- 1 Assistant Coach – Men’s Tennis for the WL-ATH-Intercollegiate Athletics Department (Wage – $59000.00)
- 1 Assistant Professor for the Department of Agricultural Economics (Wage – $119125.26)
- 1 Post-Doctoral Research Associate for the Department of Health Sciences (Wage – $60320)
- 1 Clinical Assistant Professor for the Department of Management (Wage – $174000.0)
Purdue University hit with backlash for H-1B hiring
The two lecturer vacancies set aside for H-1B visa holders especially became a triggering point of a heated debate among Americans. ‘Indy Reporter,’ an Indiana-dedicated page on X with tens of thousands of followers, specifically singled out these posts, saying, “Purdue University has a ‘Notices of Intent to Hire H-1B/E3 Employee’ for 2 Lecturers. Salary is $98,000 and $87,000.”
Starting yet another fierce discussion on the H-1B vs American workers divide, the post questioned, “Why aren’t these jobs going to Americans?”
“How is a college who is literally in the business of educating people for future jobs unable to get one of their own qualified American graduates for the job?” a user commented. Another fumed, “This is their definition of shortage of workers. Don’t hire Americans and called it a shortage.”
A third person said, “I think all these Universities that do not hire qualified Americans should lose all federal funding and support.” A fourth chimed in, “These universities need to have federal funding stopped. They are so anti-American it’s ridiculous.”
Many others commenting on the post directly tagged senior US officials, including USCIS Director Joseph Edlow, Indiana Governor Mike Braun, and Indiana State Rep Andrew Ireland.
“@USCISJoe Purdue has a huge problem and needs to be looked into!! Enough is enough,” read one such mention. Another said, “@GovBraun Indiana educates IN students why aren’t these jobs going to them? Stop this madness @AndrewIrelandIN IN universities should give IN kids priority to attend, other states give auto admit to top 5% of every class. Then IN jobs should not go to foreigners either! STOP THIS.”
Indiana State Rep previously called out Purdue for H-1B hiring
Back in late December 2025, Andrew Ireland flagged a similar disclosure of H-1B hiring at Purdue.
“Taxpayer-funded Purdue University disclosed it is hiring a foreigner on an H-1B visa to teach marketing,” he said on X. “Does anyone seriously believe no American in the Chicago area can teach marketing for 127,500 a year? The same university even has a PHD program for marketing students.”
Akin to how he ripped Purdue, Ireland also came after Indiana University for a similar job listing post advertising the position to H-1B holders instead of a graduate or an Indiana resident.
“One of the whole points of a state university is to educate the next generation so they can get jobs here in Indiana and, amazingly, that same school then turns around and says, ‘Except when we hire people, we’re going to hire people from foreign countries instead of our own graduates,’” he told Fox News Digital last year.
Questioning the university’s “notice of intent to hire H-1B/E-3 Employee 2,” he also posted on X at the time, fuming, “@IndianaUniv plans to use an H-1B visa for a ‘marketing generalist’ position. Does anyone seriously believe no American could do this cushy $68,000 a year job? We need to fix this.”
Neither Purdue nor Indiana University is new to the H-1B hiring scene. According to USCIS’s “H-1B Employer Data Hub,” Indiana University Indianapolis helped 262 beneficiaries in obtaining their H-1B status approvals, while Purdue University was responsible for 228 beneficiaries’ approvals.