BISF presents: Does the US Need a Public Service Academy? A DEBATE

   

BISF presents: Does the US Need a Public Service Academy? A DEBATE - February 3rd, 2009

12:15pm - 1:30pm
Miner Lounge, RMC

Energized by concerns about the performance of civil servants and the need to recruit a new generation of talent into federal, state, and municipal positions - a new proposal to launch a U.S. Public Service Academy has drawn much attention. With ninety-four cosponsors in the House of Representatives and eighteen cosponsors in the Senate, the proposal for a federally funded Academy is modeled on the existing military academies and would offer students a free four-year college education in return for five years of public service. The idea of creating a national university is not new. More than two centuries ago, George Washington, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson advocated for a national university. In 1897, Congress considered the creation of a "University of the United States." So far, policymakers have not acted on these proposals. Two thoughtful speakers will debate the issue: Chris Myers Asch, a cofounder of the Academy, and Philip Levy, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and one of the Academy's skeptics. The New York Times recently did a story on the Academy: www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/us/07academy.html

This information was last updated on February 21st, 2009 at 3:45pm.