Commencement Speakers Earn Big Fees

The Big Money:

So, it's college commencement season--the time when hapless parents and siblings sit patiently through three-hour graduation ceremonies. For them, the only saving grace may be a snappy graduation speaker. But how does a college snag an Oprah or a Jon Bon Jovi for their students' big day?

Read the whole story: The Big Money

Comments

[pueblocolorado]

Ummm. I thought colleges and universities were struggling for bucks since their big money donors dried up.

[vandegrasse]

Ex-presidents should speak for no fee at all to maintain the dignity of the office they held. Oh, I forgot. Dignity is a thing of the past.

[lippp]

It's greed. They can get it so they charge it. In the last analysis, these people, including Clinton, are politicians. That means they have to be manipulators finding it easy to do what is necessary to win votes, get ahead and make big bucks in the big time. Why we don't demand a system that insists on qualified people who are required to tell the truth or be held accountable if they do not, is beyond me. Instead what we have are ego centric people many times dressed to the nines attempting to look important but loving the fact it is so easy to pull the wool over their constituents eyes while they continue to garner a healthy salary and many perks including healthcare anyone of their constituents would love to have but most likely could not afford. Well, who said this was a fair world?

[TJCole]

You'd think being asked would be honor enough plus accommodations and transportation costs...

If these people cared about Americans young minds you wouldn't have to pay them $75,000 just to come speak for how long 20 minutes maybe a half an hour tops..often less...

It's obscene...

[Bafun]

At least the American people know now how their tuitions are spent !!!!

[timbonotes]

Any state supported institution that pays fees anywhere close to these should be sued by their constituents!

[MovingtoNorway]

As a parent currently in slow recovery from college loans for three children, this really offends me. College has turned into another corporate enterprise where the parents and students pay while the faculty and administrators play.

[ekoorb]

With Oprah's kajillions, she needs more?

[Profyz]

Let me give you a clue where is the money for these speakers is coming from. From the taxpayers. This is how. When a university scholar gets a grant from the federal government ( about $70-100 billion /year) the poor genius does not get all the money- the employer university gets anywhere from 35 percent to 70 percent of his grant money for overhead. The actual cost of this overhead is less than 5 percent. Remember the institution gets this from each of its professor's grant money. Each university this way gathers millions of extra-budget money. 75000 for speaker is peanuts for them. Since each state has many of these grantees, every congressman and senator shovels the tax-payer money towards these grant funds. NIH alone has about 30 billion to give every year.

[Salvadore69]

How many commencement speakers need the gratiuty they are paid in order to live? How many of them aren't already worth millions? What is the lesson that is passed on to the graduates when the big bucks are given out for these speeches which no one will remember within six months, or even past the post graduation drunk and revelry?

[henrywolff]

Another reason college is so insanely expensive.

[JoeBlough]

I'd rather see the money go to scholarships.

[jeffp26]

Any university that pays anyone named Bush or Clinton to speak anywhere, anytime, should be stripped of its accreditation.

[DamaskinosLives]

That is extremely unfair to President Clinton.

President Clinton had the guts to allow gang stalkers to poison people without fear of prosecution.

A lesser President would have arrested the criminals and protected the populace.
.

[MovingtoNorway]

Agree. Or at least they should do it for free. Both feeding at the public trough until they come to their end. Enough already.