United States Public Service Academy

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The United States Public Service Academy is a lobbying group founded in 2006 by Chris Myers Asch and Shawn Raymond in order to promote the foundation of an American public service academy modeled on the military academies.

1 The Proposed Academy
- 1.1 Academics
- 1.2 Service requirements
2 Current legislative status
3 Support and Criticism
4 References
5 External links

[edit] The Proposed Academy

[edit] Academics

Applicants to the Academy would follow a congressional nomination process similar to that used for admission to the military academies.

Once admitted, students would earn credits toward a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. Students would be required to choose a public service concentration in the field in which they ultimately will serve post-graduation.

All USPSA students would be required to spend a period of time studying abroad. Students will be required to take courses in foreign languages and international relations. Students would spend eight weeks each summer participating in structured learning programs, such as emergency response training, civilian internship in the armed forces, and an internship with a public agency.

[edit] Service requirements

Graduates would be required to serve their country for five years in the public sector.

Failure to complete five years of service would result in a dishonorable discharge from the Academy. Delinquent graduates would be required to repay the Academy for the cost of their education.

The Academy would subsidize its students’ graduate education in return for an extended service commitment. For every year of subsidized graduate education, students must add two additional years to their service commitment.

[edit] Current legislative status

The bill, S.960 / H.R. 1671, has the support of almost 100 Congressman and 20 Senators.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Support and Criticism

The proposed academy has garnered support from Senator Hillary Clinton^[1], Teach for America, and the Young Democrats of America^{[citation needed]}.

Criticism of the USPSA has focussed mainly on the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of the model. Maxwell School professors David Van Slyke and Alasdair Roberts wrote that the proposed academy would be redundant to the missions of the 150 undergraduate and graduate public affairs programs already in existence, whose breadth and diversity could never be matched by a single institution^[2]. They contend that a nationwide tuition reimbursement program resembling ROTC would be better suited to produce the civil servants of tomorrow.