1. We need our top students to pursue public service to help meet the challenges of the 21st century.
No matter how much we may disagree about the appropriate size of government, Americans of all political stripes want our government and our public institutions to work. As the Baby Boomers retire, America faces a growing shortage of public servants and civic leaders at all levels of society. Although George Washington first proposed the idea of a national public college for future civilian leaders, we still do not have an institution designed to meet this growing need.
2. Top students have grown increasingly less likely to pursue public service careers due to mounting college debts and a culture that belittles public sector work.
According to the Project on Student Debt, the average student borrower now owes about $20,000 (or more, for graduates of private colleges), a debt load that discourages students from pursuing less-lucrative public service positions. One recent study by The Financial Times found that while 73% of graduates from Columbia’s School of Public Affairs entered the public sector upon graduation in 1979, only 36% do so today. We must create more incentives to attract top students into public service.
3. The Public Service Academy will be the civilian counterpart to the military service academies.
The Public Service Academy will use the military academies as a model for how to develop effective, service-oriented leaders. The structured, academically rigorous, year-round program will focus on leadership development, combining a traditional liberal arts curriculum with stringent requirements for service learning, study abroad, and civic education. Academy graduates will spend five years serving their nation by working in critical public sector fields at the local, state, and national levels.
4. The Academy has widespread and bipartisan appeal, particularly among young people.
A May 2008 poll by Social Sphere Strategies revealed that by a margin of more than 7:1, young people aged 18 to 29 (“Millennials”) overwhelmingly support the creation of the U.S. Public Service Academy. A majority of all Millennials indicated that they would consider applying to the Academy, and 19% said that they would “very likely” consider applying. Political affiliation did not affect young people’s perception of the Academy – 58% of Democrats and 56% of Republicans said that they would consider applying to the Academy.
5. As a national college, the Academy will raise the visibility and prestige of public service.
As a prestigious, national institution, the Academy will capture the imagination of a new generation of young people. Once established, the Academy will become the nation’s flagship institution for public leadership, a locus of talent that will produce top-quality leaders for future generations. Its impact will grow over time, as alumni rise to positions of authority in public institutions around the country. Like West Point and the military academies, the Academy will become an integral part of American life, a powerful testimony to the importance of public service to the vitality and success or our nation.