Just another thing to keep in mind the next time Hillary starts talking about income inequality.

David Hookstead of the College Fix reports.

ASU spent $500K to host Clinton conference – but other universities got it for free

Several campuses hosted Clinton Global Initiative University for free. So why did ASU shell out a half-million dollars?

Arizona State University paid $500,000 to host a Clinton educational conference that other universities have hosted for free, The College Fix has learned.

The Clinton Global Initiative University has been held annually since 2008, and The College Fix reached out to each campus that hosted the conference to determine how much the Clintons charged for each event.

Turns out the price tags varied, considerably.

Arizona State, which hosted the event in 2014, paid $500,000 for the three-day conference, with campus leaders calling it a “marketing expense” and suggesting the Clinton symposium brought prestige to the university. But the decision was decried by many as a wrong move for a public university that’s hiked tuition and faced budget cuts.

In contrast, at the University of Texas at Austin, another public university that hosted the Clinton Global Initiative University, not only did the campus not have to pay for the event, the foundation reimbursed it for some expenses.

“Once expenses for hosting the event were identified, our Student Government issued a reimbursement request for $28,851.15 to the Clinton Global Initiative – University. Reimbursement for that sum was received by Student Government,” Joshua Cook, a spokesman for UT Austin, told The College Fix in an email.

Speakers at the event in Texas included former President Bill Clinton, Academy Award winner Natalie Portman, and Morgan Spurlock, director of the Academy Award nominated film Super Size Me.

The George Washington University, which hosted CGI University in 2012, also didn’t pay for the conference.

“The George Washington University was honored to host the Clinton Global Initiative University in 2012. As part of our partnership, we provided space on our campus and many of our students participated and volunteered during the meeting. We did not pay an honorarium to host,” a campus official stated in an email to The College Fix.