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.