The United States Public Service Academy (S. 960 and H.R. 1671) is a proposed institution of

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

. The Academy would be a federally subsidized four-year college modeled on the United States military service academies devoted to

public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

. It was envisioned in 2006 and introduced into congress in 2007 and again in the next congress but did not pass.

The proposed academy

Academics

*Applicants to the Academy would follow a congressional nomination process similar to that used for admission to the US service academies. *Once admitted, students would earn credits toward a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

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 International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying. In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...

. Students would be required to take courses in foreign languages and

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

. Students would spend eight weeks each summer participating in structured learning programs, such as emergency response training, civilian internship in the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

, and an internship with a public agency.

Service requirements

*Graduates would be required to serve the United States for five years in the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

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

Legislative history

The Academy was envisioned in 2006 by

Chris Myers Asch Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

and

Shawn Raymond Shawn may refer to: *Shawn (given name) *Shawn (surname) See also * Sean * Shaun Shaun is an anglicized spelling of the Irish name Seán. Alternative spellings include Shawn, Sean and Shawne. Notable persons with the given name include: Peop ...

. The Public Service Academy Act was first introduced in March 2007 by

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

and Arlen Specter in the Senate and James Moran and

Christopher Shays Christopher Hunter Shays (born October 18, 1945) is an American politician. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives as representative of the 4th District of Connecticut. He is a member of the Republican Party. Shays ...

in the House of Representatives. In the 110th Congress, the bill had 24 Senate co-sponsors and 123 House co-sponsors. The bill was reintroduced unsuccessfully in the

111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...

as House Bill 2102. The Senate leads included Arlen Specter and

Mark Udall Mark Emery Udall ( ; born July 18, 1950) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Colorado from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, represe ...

Criticism

Criticism of the Academy has focused mainly on the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of the model.

Maxwell School Maxwell School ( ms, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Maxwell) is an all-boys secondary school, located north of Kuala Lumpur. The school is believed to be the oldest school in north of Kuala Lumpur as well as one of the oldest in Kuala Lumpur and ...

professors

David Van Slyke David Michael Van Slyke (born 1968) is an American academic and the Dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is the professor of government and policy affairs and Louis A. Bantle Chair in Business-Go ...

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.David Van Slyke and Alasdair Roberts, A Poorly Designed Solution for a Misdiagnosed Problem, ''Administration & Society'' 41 (March 2009: 127-129. They contend that a nationwide tuition reimbursement program resembling

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

would be better suited to the training of young civil servants.

References

{{authority control Political advocacy groups in the United States