Claims About Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Ties to For-Profit Laureate University-Truth! & Misleading!
Summary of eRumor:
Rumors are circulating about Bill and Hillary Clinton’s ties to Laureate International University, one of the largest for-profit higher ed institutions in the world.
The Truth:
Bill Clinton was paid millions while serving as the honorary chancellor of Laureate International University over five years — but claims that Hillary Clinton funneled millions in government grants to a related non-profit during that time are misleading.
The extent of Bill Clinton’s ties to the for-profit university chain emerged in July 2015, shortly after his five-year stint as honorary chancellor of Laureate came to end.
Tax returns released by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign disclosed that Bill Clinton had been paid about $16.5 million from 2010-2015 for serving as honorary chancellor of the for-profit higher ed chain.
Additionally, Laureate CEO Douglas Becker donated $4,600 to Hillary’s 2008 presidential campaign and $2,000 to her 2000 Senate campaign. Laureate was also a founding donor of the 100,000 Strong Foundation, a non-profit started by Hillary before she left the State Department to expand the study of Mandarin in the United States, Bloomberg Business reports.
Supporters of Donald Trump have pointed to the Clintons’ ties to Laureate University to deflect public outcry over allegations that Trump University preyed on and defrauded students who studied there.
Peter Schweizer, the conservative author of “Clinton Cash,” has argued that Hillary funneled millions of dollars in grants to Becker’s International Youth Foundation (IYF) while Bill served as the honorary chancellor of Becker’s for-profit college, and that Bill resigned from the post once that became public.
A Bloomberg review of IYF’s tax filings show that the organization did pocket millions in grants before and after Bill Clinton was named honorary chancellor:
A Bloomberg examination of IYF’s tax filings show that in 2009, the year before Bill Clinton joined Laureate, the nonprofit received 11 grants worth $9 million from the State Department or the affiliated USAID. In 2010, the group received 14 grants worth $15.1 million. In 2011, 13 grants added up to $14.6 million. The following year, those numbers jumped: IYF received 21 grants worth $25.5 million, including a direct grant from the State Department.
However, the Clintons argued that Schweizer had mischaracterized the relationship between them and IYF because the group was initially funded by the Bush administration and that funding actually went down after Hillary became secretary of state:
The Clinton campaign disputed Schweizer’s characterization. “This is yet another false allegation in a book that is fast being debunked,” said Brian Fallon, a campaign spokesman. “The International Youth Foundation was funded by the Bush administration, well before Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State. In fact, the group’s USAID funding actually went down in the year that she arrived at the State Department, not up.”
A Laureate spokesperson said denied Schweizer’s claims, stating, “The politics and motives of the author are obvious and his claims are baseless.”
The facts of this rumor are true, but key details have been left out. Namely, IYF was established by President H.W. Bush and received millions in government grants well before Hillary became secretary of state and Bill became honorary chancellor of Laureate.
Given all that, we’re classifying this one as truth and misleading.