Legislation has been introduced to establish a non-profit to administer a scholarship program whereby grad students receive tuition and room and board in exchange for three to five years of federal civilian service upon graduation.
Introduced by Reps. David Price, D-N.C., and Michael Castle, R-Del., the Roosevelt Scholars Act of 2009 would be directed toward funding areas such as law, security and enforcement, public health, science, engineering and accounting.
“In the coming years, the federal government needs to fill more than 200,000 mission-critical jobs,” said the president of the Partnership for Public Service, Max Stier, adding, “Similar to the military’s largely successful ROTC program, Roosevelt Scholars will help make federal service a more affordable and attractive career option for our nation’s top talent.”
PPS first proposed the idea in 2007 of funding one year of study for every two years of service but such a program, while it has received wide praise, requires congressional approval.
