You've heard of Trump University — but what about 'Clinton University?'
While there has been much focus on Trump University and the lawsuit against it, very little has been written about Laureate Education and its ties to the Clintons.
Laureate is a for-profit online college that received an unusually large amount of money from the U.S. State Department. This happened while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state and after her husband Bill was named "honorary chancellor," a position that paid him $16.5 million over five years. His role included giving speeches around the world and lending his name to attract prospective students.
During the time, when Bill was acting as honorary chancellor, the U.S. State Department, under Secretary Clinton, gave Laureate Education a whopping $55 million in grants. Laureate Education had also received some grants under the George W. Bush administration, but the numbers exploded after the Clintons became involved.
In 2009, the year before Bill became the honorary chancellor (but Hillary was already secretary of state), Laureate Education "received 11 grants worth $9 million from the State Department or the affiliated USAID," according to a report from Bloomberg.
"In 2010, the group received 14 grants worth $15.1 million. In 2011, 13 grants added up to $14.6 million," Bloomberg authors Joshua Green and Jennifer Epstein reported. "The following year, those numbers jumped: IYF received 21 grants worth $25.5 million, including a direct grant from the State Department."
Like Trump University, Laureate Education has also been sued for fraud. Its Walden University Online subsidiary allegedly "worked like a scam designed to bilk students of tens of thousands of dollars for degrees," according to liberal professor Jonathan Turley, who recently documented the organization's ties to the Clintons. "Students alleged that they were repeatedly delayed and given added costs as they tried to secure degrees, leaving them deeply in debt. Sound familiar?
A class-action lawsuit was also filed against Laureate Education, just like against Trump University, though that lawsuit was dismissed in 2015.
In 2014, the Washington Post noted how Laureate Education became an international success thanks to the Clintons, and included criticism that the institution was "turbocharging" enrollment without making additional investments in academics.
Turley also pointed out that, as was discovered in Hillary's email scandal, the former secretary of state requested the inclusion of Laureate Education at a high-profile policy dinner just months before her husband Bill was named honorary chancellor and began raking in the dough.
And like other Clinton scandals, it appears Laureate Education was above the law, skirting "gainful employment" regulations by having a large number of schools outside the U.S. with students that did not receive federal aid. Still, "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," according to MarketWatch.
"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," Turley wrote. "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."
A spokesperson for the Clinton campaign did not respond to a Washington Examiner inquiry prior to press time.
