by Shirley Sagawa and John Bridgeland in the Huffington Post Blog
Every year, a quarter of a million U.S. students leave the comfort of their colleges to study abroad. As a new semester begins, most students are likely to go to one of five countries — the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy or China — to learn at a foreign university that gives them academic credit at their colleges. A “junior year abroad” (or semester) has become part of the culture of many college campuses and a life-changing experience for more students every year. The idea has not only caught on in the U.S. — three times as many international students are studying in the U.S. as U.S. students are studying abroad. We propose another powerful idea — a “service year” at home or abroad — that would not only widen students’ horizons, but also give them the chance to connect their coursework to a cause. Imagine if every student had the opportunity before, during or after college to spend a year applying their academic learning to real world experiences serving others and grounding their education in service year experiences that bring learning to life, inspire them to complete college, and lay a foundation for courses of study that lead to careers. Those who perform a service year would continue to take courses in classrooms or online, but such courses would be aligned with their service experiences. Conservation corps members in national parks could take classes in environmental studies; health corps workers in community health centers could study medicine or public health; and education corps members could apply their learning in math, English, literature and history to help bring those subjects alive for those they tutor. Students studying languages could serve in immigrant communities in the U.S. or serve native speakers abroad. Students who serve would receive course credit for college-level learning during their service year based on a comprehensive paper or portfolio, ensuring the experience contributes to degree completion. Students would start to discover why learning is so important and relevant to getting a good job and being a good citizen. In the process, a service year that offers a pipeline to employment could make college more affordable, college completion more common, and a college degree more meaningful. Many might view this idea as unrealistic. Funding for AmeriCorps and Peace Corps, the nation’s federal programs to support domestic and international service year programs, respectively, has been stalled for more than a decade. Higher education institutions are strapped for resources and many have little access to large scale philanthropic resources. Even more significant is the barrier presented by administrators and faculty who subscribe to academic traditions that exclude awarding credit for learning outside the classroom. ~1@BODYURL[id=114jbcurl1250]@