by Gage Skidmore via Flickr under CreativeCommons

Rachel Rose Hartman writes a piece that shows up on Yahoo News about an idea presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is bouncing around: If elected, he would teach a free online class “through the University of Phoenix or Kaplan.” The positive side of us thinks it is a good thing for a candidate or president to teach a class in history and to demonstrate the growth and potential of digital learning. Gingrich taught history and geography at West Georgia College in the 1970s. He often speaks like a professor when he talks about American history, Congress and the legislative process.

But the skeptical side of us now wonders if he is getting donations from those schools or its executives to his presidential campaign coffers… or if he would like to. We checked www.opensecrets.org and see that he has raised nearly $3 million so far for the 2012 race. For-profit colleges do not turn up as major donors yet. But, on that note, we welcome readers to investigate this out further and to compare donations from For-Profit colleges to the various presidential candidates. Please email us at [email protected] if interested in reporting on this with us.

Hartman writes:

“I think I will probably teach a course when I’m president,” Gingrich told an audience of students and supporters following a speech at New Hampshire’s St. Anselm College, according to media outlets on the scene. “I will probably try to do something that outlines for the whole country what we’re going to try to accomplish,” he reportedly told them. “It will be free.”

via Yahoo News