Something to serve for
New plan calls for free higher education for public service
By Nicole Loring
Posted: 11/7/07, 11:18 PM EST Section: News
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The cost of a college education may drop for civic-minded students if Bill Richardson becomes president.
In his recently published education plan, the New Mexico governor and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate stated that if elected, he would offer two years of loan forgiveness - the cancellation of part or all of an educational loan by the federal government - to pay for students' tuition costs at public universities in exchange for one year of public service.
Richardson's plan also calls to discard the No Child Left Behind Act and to offer incentives for colleges to keep their costs down. The loan forgiveness plan assumes the average public university tuition to be $6,000 per year, which would be adjusted yearly to accommodate for changing costs.
The Syracuse University community seems to be enthusiastic about the plan, citing its potential to provide affordable higher education while at the same time sponsoring widespread public service. However, some raised concerns about the feasibility of the program, as well as questions about how the plan might harm private institutions like SU.
Douglas Biklen, dean of the School of Education, thought Richardson's plan was a good but complex, noting there would be debates about what would count as public service as well as the plan's high yearly cost.
"Youth should be encouraged to engage in public service because I think it can benefit a country and a people," Biklen said. "It has the potential to make people more sensitive to important social issues like environmental concerns, education, poverty and availability of health care."
A former Peace Corps volunteer, Biklen said volunteering was popular in the Kennedy era, and many of his peers who were involved in public service ended up in careers that were related to public service.
Richardson's education plan states that "a large number of service commitments will be eligible for the loan-payment-for-service program: the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Teach for America, firefighters, police officers, public interest attorneys who earn less than $45,000 per year and the National Health Service Corps, as well as teachers and medical professionals in underserved areas."
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