Kerry proposes tuition money for public service plan
Kerry proposes tuition money for public service plan
By Leslie Holste,
Lauren Baker,
and Laurie Cataldo
As Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry listened to students and officials discuss rising tuition costs at the University of Rhode Island yesterday, he said he would offer a $4,000 tuition tax credit toward college, in exchange for national public service.
This proposal is part of Kerry's effort to broaden access to higher education. Kerry is visiting college campuses across the country this week to expose younger voters to his campaign.
For the 2003-2004 school year at Penn State, tuition increased by $579 on average for students with fewer than 60 credits.
Kerry said that college tuition increased throughout the nation on average by about 28 percent.
James Eisenstein, a Penn State political science professor, said Kerry's plan would be effective because many students are called to public service, and used Penn State's Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon as an example.
He also said the cost reduction would help students who are supporting themselves and paying for college.
"So many of my students are carrying a heavy workload, plus working 20 or 30 hours a week," he said.
Some students said Kerry's plan might encourage student voting.
"I think voter turnout would probably increase because college is expensive. It [the plan] sounds sensible. It's good because it helps pay for college while doing good things," Farai Machina (freshman-food science) said.
Others thought the plan was a good idea, but voting would also depend on other platform goals.
"It would depend on the other things he's standing for or against. [The plan] is intriguing. It catches your attention. It's a really good idea that will help out the world and our communities," Lane Ross (senior-physics and German) said.
Eisenstein said Kerry's idea reminded him of then-Senator John F. Kennedy's proposal in his 1960 campaign to start the Peace Corps. According to the Peace Corps' Web site, Kennedy challenged college students at the University of Michigan to serve their country and promote peace by living and working in developing countries. "It was very successful," Eisenstein said.
Scott Bennett, professor of international politics, said the public service projects would probably include programs like Teach for America.
"You'd certainly have a lot of people doing it because student aid programs have been cut ... as a new source of student aid, I'm sure people will jump on it," he said.
Bennett also said that it would not replace need-based programs, but add on to the existing government assistance programs.
"I'd think about it [doing public service for tuition credit]. That's kind of nice. It might depend on how long I'd have to do service. I'd like to learn about it more," Alain Amazan (freshman-aerospace engineering) said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
