Political Equinox

President-elect Barack Obama has proposed giving a $4,000 tax credit to any US higher education student who works 100 hours of community service each year. Making college more affordable would be a major help to the American education system – it’s a perpetual problem and Obama proposes improving the community by having college students perform community service, which instills lifelong values of servant leadership and volunteerism. In return, these college students can cover two-thirds of the cost of tuition at the average public college or university.

Cutting Costs, Helping Others

The cost of college is rising each day and students continue to struggle with find ways to pay for it without taking out enormous loans that place a burden on themselves, their families, and their success later in life. Instead of being able to purchase things to make the US economy run, build wealth, and give to charity these former students are concerned about paying off student loans.

Our country is falling behind in some sectors of higher education and encouraging more students to head or stay in college can only help America become more competitive in the global marketplace. This doesn’t require them to take on a job delievering pizza at night or doing other work that may interfere with their studies, all it requires is two hours of their week for the year.

A Life of Service

Serving others and volunteering is an essential lifelong habit that wouldn’t hurt the college students of the country to develop. If we are able to get our students to realize the rewards of helping those in need by performing service on a weekly basis, then chances are they will continue their service upon leaving school.

The non-profit world is forever in need of new volunteeers and creating a generation of people willing to give their time, money, and expertise to help others would be a gret victory for this country.

The only question is….do you think it’s worth the money?