US Public Service Academy

Today we highlight a bold new initiative--the United States Public Service Academy. Reminiscent of drives such as President Kennedy's "Peace Corps," the Academy is to be this generation's contribution to serving America. It has been introduced to the Senate and House as S.960 and H.R. 1671, respectively, in March 2007.

Hailed as "America's first national civilian university," the USPSA will mirror the structure of US service academies such as West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy. Students of the PSA will study within their major field, while also taking classes in public service-oriented fields such as leadership, communication, and history. On top of a rigorous curriculum, one unique characteristic of the Academy is its requirement that each student spend at least 6 weeks studying abroad.

Upon graduation, students will be committed to serve five years of public service. What kind of service? Some of the most noble of all: "Academy graduates will spend five years serving their nation by working as teachers, park rangers, police officers, border agents, and other critical public service jobs at the local, state, national and even international levels."

From their website:
"The mission of the U.S. Public Service Academy is to educate, develop, and inspire civilian leaders who have the character, intellect, and experience necessary to serve the nation honorably and effectively, and who are committed to devoting their lives to public service."

"Why do we need to do this now?
We need to build a Public Service Academy for several reasons:
1) First, recent events have inspired a younger generation and imbued many young people with a sense of civic engagement not seen in decades. Unfortunately, many of these students are priced out of public service careers because they rack up so much debt while in school.
2) Second, we face a critical and growing shortage of public servants – as baby boomers retire, we will need more teachers, more cops, more air traffic controllers, more everything.
3) Finally, we currently have no national undergraduate institution dedicated to developing civilian leaders and meeting our nation’s critical needs. We offer our young people outstanding, federally-funded opportunities to go to college and serve their country in the military, but none to serve as a civilian."

Plans are being made to construct the Academy in a very logical place for public servants--Washington DC.

We look forward to working with those at the Public Service Academy, on the long road to understanding and improving leadership in America!

Check them out--and tell them the American Leaders Organization sent you!!