Penn expands Claude Enterprise access across University

Penn Information Systems and Computing rolled out access to a paid version of Anthropic’s Claude platform for active faculty, staff, and students, broadening access to artificial intelligence tools at the University.

The campus-wide release comes after the Wharton School expanded Claude Enterprise access to its undergraduate students last month. The service is now available to Penn community members working with low- and moderate-risk data at two paid levels.

“ISC is pleased to make Claude Enterprise available as a secure, University-supported AI option for low and moderate risk data to eligible members of the Penn community,” Vice President of Information Technology & Chief Information Officer Joshua Beeman wrote in a statement. “Individual schools and centers will determine how they make the service available within their communities, including how licenses are funded and distributed.”

Claude Enterprise includes access to Claude’s chat assistant and Claude Code. While Claude CoWork is not yet available, the product “is being reviewed for privacy controls” and could be included in the service by the end of the year, according to an ISC webpage.

To gain access to the service, users must first open a ticket request with ISC and then select from two paid levels: a $16 per month standard license and a $50 per month premium license. Once registered, users will have to take part in a brief training session.

The standard plan includes up to 112 messages during any rolling five-hour period, along with $50 in weekly API usage. The premium plan, which comes with access to Claude’s Fable 5 model, offers 225 messages per rolling five-hour period and $250 in weekly API usage.

ISC recommended that most people choose the standard license and noted that the purchase is “a fiscal year commitment.” Users can switch from the standard version to the premium one but not vice versa during a fiscal year.

“We are not currently offering the opportunity to purchase extra credits,” the ISC’s FAQ webpage reads. “We will evaluate adding this option in the future based on demand.”

Unlike PennChat — Penn’s own generative AI portal — Claude Enterprise requires a paid license and is not approved for any high-risk data. PennChat can be used with most high-risk data, excluding Social Security numbers and credit card information.

According to a Sept. 3 email sent to students in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Claude Enterprise service has not been approved for HIPAA-covered environments, such as Penn Medicine, the Perelman School of Medicine, the School of Dental Medicine, and Penn Student Wellness.

“Users should continue to follow local guidance regarding approved AI tools and the handling of PHI and other sensitive information,” the email read. The message also instructed Penn community members who work with protected health information to ensure that the data is not accessible through Claude Enterprise.

ISC is working to establish a separate version approved for high-risk data in the future, according to the FAQ.

The University began piloting PennChat in July as part of a larger effort to provide secure access to generative AI models. The portal offers Claude and ChatGPT models within Penn’s network to prevent the providers from using University data to train their systems.

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