Dive Brief:
- Charles Koch’s charitable foundations funneled more than $19 million to 210 colleges in 2013, prompting concern over the libertarian ideological bent of the donor.
- Al Jazeera America reports that the 2013 giving was a $6.6 million increase over the prior year, reflecting a more aggressive philanthropic strategy to expand the free-market economic policy discussions on college campuses.
- While some believe this perspective is needed on campuses that tend to skew to the left, others criticize the strings attached to Koch giving, like requests for the contact information of students who take the Koch-funded courses and requests for Foundation consent before discussing Koch-funded programs with the media.
Dive Insight:
Reaching down into the K-12 sphere as well, major donors like Bill and Melinda Gates, the Walton Family, and Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan have also been criticized for their outsized influence on education policy because of their philanthropic giving. The fact is, philanthropy has been a core element of higher education in the U.S. since its inception. And grant money virtually always comes with strings attached. Donors want to approve of the ways their money is being spent. The question is, where is the line, and when does accepting donations become unethical?