Bill Clinton earned millions as honorary chancellor of for-profit university

Bill Clinton, speaking on behalf of Laureate University — (Image credit: Kamarul Akhir/AFP/Getty Images)

In 2010, Bill Clinton signed on as a consultant and "honorary chancellor" for Laureate International Universities, earning $17.6 million over the five years of his contract. Laureate, a for-profit company that has 87 college campuses in 28 countries collectively enrolling a million students, is headed by Doug Becker, a businessman who met Clinton in 2007 at a Clinton Foundation function, The Washington Post reports; they were introduced by Joseph Duffey, a former Clinton administration official and vice president of Laureate.

Laureate was the most lucrative consulting job Bill Clinton took on while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, and while Laureate did not apparently receive more than $15,000 in USAID scholarships while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, she did suggest Duffey be invited to a State Department dinner on higher-education policy in 2009, some nine months before Bill Clinton signed his Laureate contact. Laureate, a fast-growing global college network, was "clearly a legitimate participant in this sort of event," Penn State's Kevin Kinser, who studies for-profit colleges, tells The Washington Post. "But knowing what we know now, it does seem unseemly."

Bill Clinton was an active honorary chancellor, visiting 19 campuses and delivering speeches broadcast to tens of thousands of students worldwide, according to Laureate spokesman Adam Smith. Clinton "engaged with students at Laureate's campuses worldwide and advised Laureate's leadership on social responsibility and increasing access to higher education," says Clinton spokesman Angel Urena. Laureate's student loan default rate, a common proxy for post-graduation success, is low compared with other for-profit colleges, The Post says, adding that Laureate seemed to value Clinton's ties to the company as part of a strategy "to bolster Laureate's image by aligning it with the former president's famous charitable efforts — thereby portraying the company as a force for good in the world." You can read more at The Washington Post.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.