Federal Funds To Boost Service

College students all across the country looking to partake in national service upon graduation will receive greater economic support from the recently authorized Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.

Largely the brainchild of Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy ’54-’56, the act aims to dramatically bolster the number of college graduates who opt to participate in national service.

“This is the most sweeping expansion of national service in over 75 years,” said Sandy Scott, spokesman for the Corporation for National and Community Service. “It would put AmeriCorps on a path to grow from 75,000 volunteers to 250,000 volunteers by 2017.”

This service act seeks to encourage those who are deterred by recent financial setbacks to nevertheless consider national service opportunities such as Teach for America and the Peace Corps. It will increase the amount of money provided to students by raising the value of the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award—created to allow those pursuing service opportunities to simultaneously pay off their college loans—from $4,775 to $5,350 per year.

“While Teach for America participants receive salaries which vary from region to region,” said Lumumba B. Seegars ’09, a campus representative for Teach for America, “These AmeriCorps funds provide educational grants to participants in national service to pay off previous loans.”

In the wake of the recent economic downturn, Scott said this act will support AmeriCorps’ focus on five pressing issues—educational achievement, health care access, clean energy, support of veterans, and economic opportunities.

In addition to the authorization of the new act, AmeriCorps has already received approximately $200 million as part of President Obama’s stimulus package, which have been used to recruit up to 13,000 new positions.

With the number of applications to AmeriCorps’ state and national programs increasing roughly 8 percent from 2007 to 2008, this expansionary act comes at a time when more and more graduates are seeking to partake in national service.

“This legislation is coming at a critical time not only due to the social problems facing Americans, but also because of the recent compassion boom,” Scott said. “Due to both President Obama’s call to service and the extremely bleak job market, today’s generation of young people are a very altruistic and service-minded generation.”