Paying students to learn: An ethical analysis of cash for grades programmes

A growing number of schools have begun experimenting with giving students cash rewards to improve academic performance. This practice has come to be known as ‘cash-for-grades’. In this article, I examine some of the philosophical and ethical questions involved with cash-for-grades programmes, rather than focusing on whether such incentives ‘work’ to increase academic performance. Building on the framework of philosopher Michael Sandel, I examine whether cash incentives are more coercive or corruptive than currently accepted educational practices. An answer to these questions ultimately requires a careful analysis of the meaning of cash as an incentive. Comparing cash incentives to grade incentives, I argue that the individuality and immediacy specific to cash incentives make them uniquely problematic in an educational environment.