While largely ignored by the media, the Clintons have their own university scandal. Donald Trump has been rightfully criticized and sued over his defunct Trump University. There is ample support for claiming that the Trump University was fraudulent in its advertisements and operations. However, the national media has been accused of again sidestepping a scandal involving the Clintons that involves the same type of fraud allegations. The scandal involves a dubious Laureate Education for-profit online college (Walden) and entails many of the common elements with other Clinton scandals: huge sums given to the Clintons and questions of conflicts with Hillary Clinton during her time as Secretary of State. There are distinctions to draw between the two stories, but the virtual radio silence on the Clinton/Laureate story is surprising. [I have updated the original column with some additional thoughts, links, and clarifications for readers].
I have long been a critic of many online courses, though I am increasingly in the minority even on my faculty. However, the rise of online courses has allowed for an increase in dubious pitches and practices that prey upon people who cannot afford or attend a traditional academic institution. I should also reveal a general opposition to for-profit universities, a view shared by many teachers and experts. While there are some good for-profit programs from student camps to specialized training courses, Laureate is a massive, mega-corporation that is often criticized for its impact on education. As companies maximize profits, students often become a mere cost of doing business. The rate of default has been higher at such for-profit universities and less than half of students at for-profit schools actually finish such programs accordingly to Brookings. Laureate is often cited as the leader in reducing education to a commodity in a mass for-profit enterprise. The company has made huge profits and is worth over $4 billion.
Laureate Education was sued over its Walden University Online offering, which some alleged worked like a scam designed to bilk students of tens of thousands of dollars for degrees. Students alleged that they were repeatedly delayed and given added costs as they tried to secure degrees, leaving them deeply in debt. Laureate itself has been criticized for “turbocharging” admissions while allowing standards to fall and shortchanging education.
The respected Inside Higher Education reported that Laureate Education paid Bill Clinton an obscene $16.5 million between 2010 and 2014 to serve as an honorary chancellor for Laureate International Universities. Various news outlets said that neither Clinton nor Laureate were forthcoming on how much he was paid for the controversial association.
Bill Clinton worked as the “honorary chancellor” which sounds a bit like the group’s pitchman. He gave speeches in various countries and was heavily touted by the for-profit company to attract students. The size of this payment (which has been widely reported) raises obvious concerns as to what the company was seeking to achieve and whether Laureate received any benefit from the association with the State Department given its massive international operations.
Various sites have reported that the State Department funneled $55 million in grants during Hillary Clinton’s tenure to groups associated with Laureate’s founder. That would seem a pretty major story but virtually no mainstream media outlet has reported it while running hundreds of stories on the Trump University scandal. The stories on the grants do not name Laureate directly. Accordingly, the company might have not received direct grants (my first column did not make that clear and, in fairness to Laureate, there is no evidence of a quid pro quo arrangement or even direct grants). However, there are references to the International Youth Federation (connected to Laureate chairman Douglas Becker) as receiving USAID funding. Becker, who reportedly did not graduate college, is a controversial figure and the Washington Post wrote that “Becker’s peers in the education industry paint him as a tireless promoter, skilled at pitching Laureate to investors and persuading universities to sell to him.” Becker is reportedly a major donor to the Clintons and the Clinton Foundation.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Laureate was able to “skirt” regulations on reporting “gainful employment” due to its large number of schools and students outside of the country who do not receive federal aid. The Journal noted “[o]nly 31% of students who enroll at another Laureate school, Santa Fe University of Art and Design, graduate. After 10 years, a mere 58% earn more than Americans with a high school diploma.”
Clinton resigned from his post just before his wife declared her candidacy but praised the company for producing high quality education. Yet, MarketWatch reported “five out of its six U.S. campuses are on a list of 544 schools the Department of Education is monitoring over concerns about shaky finances or regulatory compliance.”
Indeed, Laureate has come up in the Clinton email scandal. In her first year as Secretary of State, Clinton is quoted as directly asking that Laureate be included in a high-profile policy dinner — just months before the lucrative contract was given to Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton later references “Laureate Universities, started by Doug Becker who Bill likes a lot.”
Of course, there is a good reason why Clinton would ask for a more inclusive listing since “It’s a for-profit model that should be represented.” Even though most teachers (including the unions supporting Clinton) tend to be opposed to such for-profit companies, there is no denying that this model is on the rise. Later, Clinton called for a crackdown on for-profit companies but was criticized for the former association with Laureate.
There was even a class action — like the Trump University scandal. Travis et al v. Walden University LLC, was filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Maryland but dismissed in 2015. It is not clear why it was dismissed. However, the size of the contract to Clinton, the grants from State and the complaints over alleged fraud should warrant a modicum of attention to the controversy. The controversy has many of the familiar complaints over fraudulent online programs that take advantage of hard working people.
As an academic, I find both Trump University and Laureate to be deeply troubling stories. Yet, only one has been pursued by the media to any significant degree. I am not suggesting that Laureate as a whole is fraudulent. It clearly is a large for-profit educational company that has far more to show for its work than Trump University. Indeed, this is a huge global company with tremendous financial assets and profits. Moreover, there are distinctions that can be drawn with a university like Trump that is based entirely on the presumptive nominee and his promises in advertising. However, the money given to the Clintons, the involvement of the State Department, and the claims of fraud make this an obviously significant story in my view. The ridiculous amount of money given to Clinton alone raises legitimate questions. This is a company that was expanding exponentially in foreign countries. The association with Clinton was obviously greatly desired by the company. The question is whether the association with the Clintons resulted in any favorable treatment for the company or its affiliates.
Update: Walden University President Jonathan Kaplan was kind enough to respond to my query for a comment to this story. He maintains that Walden has been misrepresented in terms of its program and success with students. He noted:
Walden University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and was founded in 1970. We are committed to delivering quality degree programs and to focusing on student outcomes. More than 80% of our students are enrolled in masters or doctoral programs. Walden has programmatic and professional accreditations in key areas serving the public good such as social work, teacher education, mental health counseling, nursing, and more.
Walden University takes its financial aid responsibilities very seriously and has worked hard over many years to be good stewards of federal financial aid. This is demonstrated by our three-year cohort default rate of 6.8%, which is well below the national average of 11.8%, including all nonprofit and for-profit institutions.
Additionally, we have achieved a rigorous form of certification for social responsibility through Laureate Education and Walden University becoming Certified B Corporations® in 2015.
Walden University is a part of the Laureate International University Network. We are proud of our association with President Clinton and his role as honorary chancellor at Laureate from 2010 to 2015. It is unfortunate that this association has now drawn us into a political debate.
I should further note that Laureate has claimed a higher than average success yet with its students and currently has almost one million students in its various schools around the world.
Hey Susan Hoffman, For fun go to CHARITY NAVIGATOR, a site that rates charities and look up the CLINTON FOUNDATION. It doesn’t meet their criteria for a charitable organization.
There are some important unvetted “facts” in this article. Professor Turley Reports
“Various sites have reported that the State Department funneled $55 million in grants during Hillary Clinton’s tenure to groups associated with Laueate’s Founder .”
Well what are these site’s and where is the proof of these alleged facts???? Maybe there is no reporting on this story because there is no there there.
Reluctantly, Professor Turley admits that there is no indication of a quid pro quo… that the $55million did not go directly to Laureate Professor Turley reports that INTERNATIONAL YOUTH FEDERATION received a grant. IYF is “connected” to Laureate Chairman Douglas Becker.
Just for fun, International Youth Federation is a very respected and effective charitable organization. For fun go to CHARITY NAVIGATOR, a site that rates charities.
INTERNATIONAL YOUTH FEDERATION Current rating
overall 94.26%
Financial 92.94%
Accountability and transparency 96.%
as of 6/01/2016
Look up the charity, it is admirable. Just the kind of effort we would hope the USA is suppoting
This is a phony non scandal ginned up to give Trump the conman a talking point distraction. I want to feel good about Johnathan Turley but alas…I jtrust what you say.
The payments to Clinton are public knowledge. Hillary and William Clintons federal tax returns are available on the Hillary Clinton web site http://www.HillaryClinton.com. For example, in 2014, the return shows over $4 million was paid to WJC,LLC and subsequently reported on line C of the return. Their also is over $2 million reported from Gems University, based in Dubai. In would be good for someone to go through each year’s posted return and list the chancellor-related income reports.
UNSUBSCRIBE!!!!!!!!!!
CAN’T FIND AN UNSUBSCRIBE LINK ON YOUR EMAIL AS IS REQUIRED—– UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!
J. Keith – try the homepage.
Laureate is in the midst of a downward spiral, unchecked with so many layers of high paid people that it doesn’t need. It has in the past few months turned into University of Phoenix 2.0 (the slimiest school out there, feel free to research their history) The VP of “Strategic Alliances,” Jason Lyons got canned from UOP after their immense lawsuit and his part in bringing them down, went over to another for-profit, and then ended up at Laureate. He has been actively laying people off and replacing them with his University of Phoenix ladies. Jobs aren’t even posted anymore. they are reserved for UOP former ladies who worked for Jason, and HR doesn’t answer any complaints, they just don’t respond to employees. Get the asses into classes – it doesn’t matter at what expense. the class action lawsuit by doctoral students is because they string along the student as long as possible so they max out their loans. This college is as sleazy as it gets, and uses more student loans than ANY other forprofit, by a landslide http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2015/07/12/for-profit-colleges-encourage-huge-student-debt/#414eb9312a05
Randyjet,
Check out this pilot, decorated CIA veteran Robert Tosh Plumlee, and his friend retired USMC veteran Matthew Smith-Meck have to say about just treasonous & evil the Clintons & their friends are!
Note, listen to what his saying, he’s sending a message to an evil group inside our gov’t & he & his friends are no longer playing defence, but have went on the offense.
Oky1
1, June 10, 2016 at 1:49 pm
https://jonathanturley.org/2016/06/10/the-new-ochlocracy-columnist-calls-for-violence-against-trump-supporters/#comment-1538185
I am still amazed at how stupid most of the criticism of Clinton is. Mike, I am a former client of Prof Turley which is how I learned of this blog through our lawsuit against the FAA and ALPA. You can ask Prof Turley if I was an airline captain, and another person who used to be a weekend contributor even posted a picture of me and him with my aircraft when I flew into his neighborhood airport.
Another point that all of the critics forget or choose to ignore is that unlike the actual FRAUD of Trump U, it was one ONLY in name, Walden is an actual ACCREDITED University. A person can transfer credits from Walden and apply them to other legitimate universities. The same is NOT true of Trump’s fake university. One has to wonder why they were not shut down for calling themselves a university when they were nothing of the sort.
While I am not a fan of for profit educational institutions, they are not illegal, though some countries DO ban them. I would in fact like to see such institutions banned in the USA as well. So if you are critical of Walden etc,then to be true to your criticism, I hope that you will join me in demanding an outright BAN on for profit institutions of education. I also hope, vainly probably, that you will demand an outright ban on such frauds as Trump and BAN them from using even the name of university unless they truly are such. How about it folks? Do you have the courage of your convictions about Clinton’s advocacy? I doubt it,but you can PROVE ME WRONG, by joining in a call to ban the use of the term university by scams such as Trump U.
randyjet – usually colleges or universities are not accredited until they have graduated their first class. Who accredits you is also a challenge. There are several accrediting bodies. The problem with Walden is that students trying to take a doctorate were having to take the same course or having catalog changes as their degree went on. They were losing their advisors and committee members, which meant they had to resubmit their dissertation material each time for approval. Walden was designed to suck as much money out of the student as they could get.
Trump University is not now and never was a university or college. Never conferred college credits or degrees. A matter for civil courts to decide.
What the Clintons have done is reprehensible and likely a criminal conflict of interest. They would sell anything! Even a night in the Lincoln Bedroom at the whitehouse. No telling what they will offer up for a price if she is elected
The problem I have with the reporting of Trump University is that most journalists to this date have not spoken to a wide variety of Trump University students/customers to really give it a fair assessment. The only thing angle we have heard about is people involved in the lawsuit. I myself was a customer/student of Trump University and there was no fraud at all from my perspective. I still have the material I received and can scan it and show it as proof to anyone who thinks I’m just some Trump supporter. The material was very good and I purchased more than one course. Now I did not sign up with the real estate courses because I was not interested in real estate at the time but I can tell you with first hand knowledge that I found nothing fraudulent. If Trump University did make some mistakes that’s not hard to believe, so does virtually every other institution of learning on the planet. No one called me on the phone, no one even emailed me about the courses when I signed up, you were free to buy or not buy there was no pressure.
Is Obama slow-walking the server investigation and has not charged Clinton because he is guilty too? As I understand Obama knowingly communicated with Clinton over a non-government, non-secure e-mail system in some ‘top secret’ emails.
Obama and Clinton are two of the biggest liars the world has ever known
http://buenavistamall.com/obamahillary.jpg
http://buenavistamall.com/obamahillary2.jpg
Lane Core Jr.: The Clintons are neoliberals, NOT liberals. The only commonality between the two are support for reproductive rights and same sex marriage. From Investopedia:
Neoliberalism is a policy model of social studies and economics that transfers control of economic factors to the private sector from the public sector.
Doesn’t sound much like socialism to me.
Wow over 4 million per year for billy and all we hear from MSM is crickets. Go figure
Too many people, imo, use labels as a heuristic whenever they oppose an idea or a person, but can’t articulate a reason why. Name calling is a sure sign of a very amateurish advocate. As in: “I don’t like that idea, but I can’t refute its soundness, so my way of responding to it is to label it LIBERAL or CONSERVATIVE” depending on my own self-identification. That kind of logic (sic) is mostly used by those on the right side of the dial.