Washington Monthly - September/October 2021 - 26

pays for itself. A 2020 study by the consulting firm ICF found
that every dollar the federal government spends on AmeriCorps
returns $3.50 in taxes received or saved and more than
$17 when benefits to recipients and society are factored in.
These cost savings may not be " scoreable " by the Congressional
Budget Office, but they are savings nonetheless.
And then there are the unscorable benefits a massively expanded
national service program would bring to the country.
Imagine how much headway hundreds of thousands of new
national service members-be they recent high school dropouts,
aspiring college students, college grads, or retirees-
could make against America's unmet needs, from disadvantaged
elementary school students who require tutoring to
catch up academically to the frail elderly who need meals delivered
in order to be able to stay in their homes. Consider how
a more robust pipeline of skilled talent to the nonprofit sector
would help in implementing the American Families Plan
and its trillions of dollars in social service spending, much of
which would be carried out by nonprofit groups.
Because Segal AmeriCorps
Education Awards, like GI
Bill benefits, are earned
and available to anyone
willing to serve, regardless
of race or class, it is harder
for conservative politicians
to spin them as giveaways
to " those people. "
In The Bill, Waldman describes AmeriCorps as " the Swiss
Army knife of social programs " because it addresses so many
of the country's problems. Its proven ability to " get things
done " is the strongest reason to expand it. The U.S. military's
primary purpose is defending the country, but it has also provided
a route to the middle class for millions of Black and lowincome
white Americans who have worn the uniform. So, too,
can AmeriCorps offer a path to higher education and remunerative,
fulfilling careers for those who serve. And because
Segal awards, like GI Bill benefits, are earned and available to
anyone willing to serve, regardless of race or class, it is harder
for conservative politicians to spin them as giveaways to
" those people. "
The universal nature of AmeriCorps is key to another
profound advantage that could come from massively expanding
the program: strengthening a deeply frayed democracy.
What better way to bridge the partisan divides that are
tearing this country apart than providing an opportunity for
26 September/October 2021
Americans from all walks of life to serve together for a year
or two?
Like the original GI Bill, a massive expansion of AmeriCorps
could make institutions of higher education themselves
less elite focused and more democratic. Colleges and universities
cater to affluent families largely because those families
can pay tens of thousands of dollars a year in tuition. If AmeriCorps
veterans started showing up en masse with significant
sums, colleges would be fools not to start catering to them,
too, and in doing so, start admitting more students from
modest backgrounds. That in itself might boost the graduation
rates of these students, who often drop out, research
shows, because they feel they don't fit in.
AmeriCorps veterans armed with more money for tuition
would create other beneficial dynamics. For instance,
regional public universities, which have been struggling to
attract students with money in recent years compared to
more selective flagships, also tend to offer more public service
majors in areas like education, health care, and social
work, as this year's Washington Monthly rankings show. Since
those are precisely the kinds of careers AmeriCorps veterans
prefer, regional universities would suddenly have a competitive
advantage. To keep their Segal award dollars flowing,
college presidents would have an incentive, which they
currently do not, to use their hefty influence over members
of Congress to champion national service. This would create
what political scientists call a positive " policy feedback
loop " : a new policy leading to more political support for
that policy.
There is a reason this magazine has long ranked America's
colleges and universities on their record of both recruiting
and graduating non-wealthy students and of encouraging
all students to spend time serving their country and
communities. It is because we believe that equality of opportunity
and active citizenship are not separable-a view
shared by the Gates Foundation's Postsecondary Value Commission
in its recent report (see " What Is the Value of a
College Degree?, " page 12). It's no accident that two of the
great democratic expansions of higher education in U.S. history
happened during periods of mass mobilization: the creation
of the land grant college system during the Civil War
and the GI Bill during World War II. The third great expansion,
the 1965 Higher Education Act, which for the first time provided
federal financial aid to any aspiring student who lacked
the means to go to college, passed at the height of the civil
rights movement.
In the decades since, we have allowed our higher education
system-indeed, our entire country-to become captured
by wealth and privilege. But America may now be on the
verge of another great moment of higher education reform,
itself the result of years of public activism. By massively expanding
national service we can ensure that these reforms
succeed and endure.
Paul Glastris is the editor in chief of the Washington Monthly.
Washington Monthly - September/October 2021

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