Education: Buying Influence at Universities

The St. Petersburg Times reported on Tuesday that Charles G. Koch, one of the billionaire brothers at Koch Industries, has pledged $1.5 million to Florida State University to be used for hiring in the economics department. In exchange, his representatives get to screen and sign off on the hires.

Another philanthropist is using donations to shape classroom curricula. Bloomberg reported that John Allison, the former chairman of the banking company BB&T, is working through the company's foundation to give schools grants up to $2 million. The condition is that they must agree to create a course on capitalism that has Atlas Shrugged on the reading list.

The article reports that 60 schools, including at least four campus of the University of North Carolina, have begun teaching the book as a result of accepting the foundation money.

For more, see Buying Influence at Universities by Catherine Rampell, May 12, 2011 at Economix.