The conflicting information came from the Apple Rep, when I asked "It doesn't make any sense for you to raise the academic price to $899 and lower the non-academic to $999, unless you allow academic to be upgradeable."
To which he responded a day later that indeed the $899 Academic version was upgradeable. Which was wrong information, he informed me weeks later.
As far as upgrades from academic, here's from Adobe's page with suggested academic pricing, which suggests such things do exist.
http://www.adobe.com/education/purchasing/education_pricing.html
"No longer a student?
An important note about upgrading your software: Your personal investment in Adobe products may continue to be valuable, even if you no longer meet the qualifications for Adobe education pricing. Contact the online Adobe Store or your local reseller for information about upgrades to commercial versions of your products."
