Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 29, 1993 TAG: 9304290092
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Only about 1 out of every 100 students would be able to participate in the program when it is fully implemented, according to administration budget estimates.
After working full time for one year at minimum wage in a community service job, a student would receive a $6,500 bonus to repay college loans or pay tuition.
After two years, the $13,000 in bonuses - the maximum any student could receive - would cover less than a year of tuition, room and board at the average private university and about two years' worth at the average public university.
"National service is not a program that is going to dramatically increase access to higher education or reduce the growing loan burdens that students face," said David Merkowitz, spokesman for the American Council on Education.
An official who asked not to be identified said Clinton aides confess privately that they have no idea whether the plan will be attractive to students:
"We're kind of shooting in the dark. This may be popular in concept, but when push comes to shove and students have to commit a year or two to paying a loan off, people may have second thoughts."
Clinton is scheduled to unveil details of the plan Friday at the University of New Orleans and to submit legislation to Congress.
During the presidential campaign, Clinton's vow to create a national service program was a sure-fire applause line, and he left many listeners with the impression that it would be widely available to cash-strapped families, just as the GI Bill was for military veterans.
But budget constraints have forced the administration to scale back the program. Even at its smaller size, national service faces uncertain prospects in Congress.
While organized opposition has not materialized, neither has overwhelming support. Colleges and universities have reacted without enthusiasm, concerned that it might siphon funds from other aid programs and benefit relatively few students at high cost.
"In the current atmosphere, anything the president sends up that costs a vast amount of money will be controversial," said an education lobbyist. After a phase-in period, the program would cost $3.4 billion a year in 1997 and 1998, according to Clinton's budget.
C. Peter Magrath, president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, was upbeat. "I think it speaks to an idealistic streak" in Americans, he said.
by CNB