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

Higher education

Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

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

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

.

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
  A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
  
   or Bachelor of Science
  Bachelor of Science
  A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
  
   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
  Study abroad
  Studying abroad is the act of a student pursuing educational opportunities in a country other than one's own. This can include primary, secondary and post-secondary students...
  
  . Students would be required to take courses in foreign languages
  Language education
  Language education is the teaching and learning of a foreign or second language. Language education is a branch of applied linguistics.- Need for language education :...
  
   and international relations
  International relations
  International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
  
  . Students would spend eight weeks each summer participating in structured learning programs, such as emergency response
  Incident Response Team
  An incident response team or emergency response team is a group of people who prepare for and respond to any emergency incident, such as a natural disaster or an interruption of business operations. Incident response teams are common in corporations as well as in public service organizations...
  
   training, civilian internship in the armed forces
  Military of the United States
  The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
  
  , 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
  Public sector
  The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
  
  .

• 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 and Shawn Raymond.

The Public Service Academy Act was first introduced in March 2007 by Hillary Clinton and Arlen Specter

Arlen Specter

Arlen Specter is a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 until switching to the Democratic Party in 2009...

 in the Senate and James Moran

James Moran

James Moran may refer to:* Jim Moran , U.S. Congressman from Virginia* James Moran, Sr. , American football guard* James Moran , British screenwriter* James Byron Moran , U.S...

 and Christopher Shays

Christopher Shays

Christopher H. Shays is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives and represented the 4th District of Connecticut....

 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

111th United States Congress

The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of...

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

Mark Udall

Mark Emery Udall is the senior United States Senator from Colorado and a member of the Democratic Party. From 1999 to 2009, Udall served in the United States House of Representatives, representing . He also served a term in the Colorado House of Representatives.Born in Tucson, Arizona, he is the...

.

Criticism

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

Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs is the public policy school of Syracuse University...

 professors David Van Slyke and Alasdair Roberts

Alasdair Roberts (academic)

Alasdair S. Roberts is a Canadian professor at Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts, and author of articles and books on public policy issues, especially relating to government secrecy and the exercise of government authority.-Education:...

 wrote that the proposed academy would be redundant to the missions of the 150 undergraduate and graduate public affairs

Public administration

Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

 programs already in existence, whose breadth and diversity could never be matched by a single institution. They contend that a nationwide tuition reimbursement program resembling ROTC

Reserve Officers' Training Corps

The Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a college-based, officer commissioning program, predominantly in the United States. It is designed as a college elective that focuses on leadership development, problem solving, strategic planning, and professional ethics.The U.S...

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