The Hillary Clinton campaign asked the Federal Election Commission if an unpaid intern could get college credit and a stipend from her university for her work on the campaign.
According to paperwork filed with the FEC on Oct. 29, the DePauw University student would receive college credit as well as a grant from a summer internship grant program at the school’s Hubbard Center which offers money to students who do unpaid internships.
Clinton campaign lawyers argue that the student should be permitted to accept the $3,000 stipend and the college credit without either being designated as in-kind contributions to the campaign because the university “did not condition the availability of the stipend upon the political nature of the internship.”
The campaign also argues in the request that the if the FEC rejects the school’s ability to provide a stipend, it will prevent students of less affluent backgrounds from working for campaigns in the future.
The Clinton campaign has received criticism in the past for its use of unpaid staff. The former Secretary of State and current Democratic frontrunner has advocated for increasing the minimum wage and reducing income inequality.
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Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com