Washington Monthly - September/October 2021 - 25

creased Pell funding, leaving federal taxpayers with a hefty
tab and Pell recipients no better off. Second, a $12,990 annual
Pell award would barely cover in-state tuition at most public
four-year colleges and universities. Students would still be on
the hook for rent, food, books, and other incidentals-costs
many lower-income students can't afford.
Finally, while doubling the Pell Grant would help disadvantaged
students afford college, it likely wouldn't do much,
on its own, to help them graduate-and without a sheepskin,
a college education isn't worth nearly as much in the market.
College dropout rates for low-income and minority students
are alarmingly high, and unaffordable tuition costs are only
one cause. Living expenses like housing and food are another
big factor. So too is the fact that lower-income students enter
college with less preparation and social capital than affluent
whites. They typically attend high schools with fewer resources,
like veteran teachers. They usually lack college-educated
parents and networks of friends from similar backgrounds
who can help them navigate the college bureaucracy or connect
them to summer jobs and internships. With relatively
few adults in their lives who have good-paying careers, they
have less direct knowledge of what those careers are, much
less how a college degree can lead to one. The latter is astonishingly
important: Students who grasp that a college degree
is essential for a desired career are six times more likely to receive
a college degree than those who do not.
A major expansion of national service would address all
of these problems. Done in concert with higher Pell awards
and free community college, it would create a system where
every American can not only afford to seek a bachelor's degree
but has the support they need to get to graduation and
into a career.
To understand how it would work, imagine you are a
high school senior from a low-income Pell-eligible family who
is interested in earning a four-year degree. Legislation has
passed doubling the Pell Grant, making community college tuition
free, and expanding AmeriCorps. You enroll in community
college and two years later earn an associate's degree with
virtually no out-of-pocket expenses. You then serve two years
in AmeriCorps. Now you have two years' worth of Segal award
dollars plus two more of Pell funding you can use to pay for
your junior and senior year at a bachelor's-granting institution.
Because Segal awards are pegged by statute to the maximum
size of the Pell Grant, you would have a total of $25,980
($12,990 x 2) to put toward your education per year. That is
more than enough to cover in-state tuition plus fees, room,
and board at the average public university, which is currently
$25,864. And, as the Burning Glass research and other studies
suggest, the skills, relationships, and sense of purpose you
garnered during your time in service mean your likelihood of
graduating is considerably higher than if you had not served.
So too your chances of landing a job after college, especially in
the nonprofit sector, if that's what you want.
Washington could take other steps to make national service
an even more appealing route to achieving free college.
While AmeriCorps is sometimes stereotyped as dominated
by elite whites, demographically its membership is diverse-
Black people actually make up 22 percent of participants, a
higher share than of the U.S. population as a whole. Still, more
could be done to recruit lower-income and minority members.
Bumping up the size of the Segal award would be a huge help.
So would extending the temporary boost in members' modest
stipends that Biden's American Rescue Plan mandated. Giving
members more and better skills training and college credit
for what they learn could let them earn degrees and certificates
faster after they finish their service. Nebraska recently
passed a law offering in-state tuition at its public universities
to any AmeriCorps veteran, regardless of where that person
What better way to bridge
the partisan divides that
are tearing this country
apart than providing an
opportunity for Americans
from all walks of life to serve
together for a year or two?
served or is originally from. (See Jamaal Abdul-Alim, " Cornhuskers
Love AmeriCorps, " page 27.) Incentivizing every state
to follow Nebraska's lead would vastly expand the universe of
affordable colleges AmeriCorps alumni could apply to. Some
colleges and universities match the Segal awards AmeriCorps
veterans bring with them, as Eckerd did for Matt HudsonFlege
(colleges that do earn points on the Washington Monthly's
college rankings). Washington could write rules to encourage
more colleges to do the same.
I
f expanding national service is so crucial to a successful
" free college " agenda, why hasn't it been part of the
discussion? One reason is that the advocates who focus
on higher education reform and those in the national service
space occupy different career silos and don't talk much
to each other. A bigger reason is that making national service
a vehicle for college affordability would be expensive. The
federal government would have to fund not only the extra
Segel awards but also the costs of putting more national service
members in the field. The plan sponsored by Coons to increase
AmeriCorps to 225,000 members annually would cost
$8 billion over three years. With centrist Democrats like Joe
Manchin pressing to limit the overall size of the American
Families Plan, it's easy to see why the idea of vastly expanding
national service opportunities hasn't gained more traction.
But this price tag is misleading. Much like with infrastructure
spending, national service ultimately more than
Washington Monthly 25
Washington Monthly - September/October 2021

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