Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 14, 1993 TAG: 9302140300
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: D-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Cox News Service
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SWAP STUDENT LOANS FOR NATIONAL SERVICE
President Clinton wants to establish a national service program. He said it would be "a domestic GI bill, a domestic Peace Corps."A National Service Trust Fund would be formed during his overhaul of federal student loan programs.
The fund would loan money to Americans - mostly of college age - to pay for their advanced education. All or part of a loan could be forgiven for those who performed community service. A borrower might work as a drug counselor, police officer or health care worker.
Clinton assigned Eli Segal, one of his assistants, to find answers to questions about the details. Should community service be performed before or after receiving the loan? Should it be mandatory, like military service in Israel, or voluntary, like the Peace Corps? If voluntary, should it be available to rich kids as well as poor kids? Should the government charge an employer for the borrower's work?
The major question: How big should it be? One estimate puts the price tag at $2 billion for 100,000 students.
"He never suggested that it would be something that would be available to everybody immediately," said Dee Dee Myers, Clinton's press secretary. She said the program will have to start small and be "phased in." Besides, one estimate says only 30,000 community service jobs are now available in the United States.
Expect a heated debate over how the loans should be made. Currently, the federal government subsidizes banks, which make the loans. But some lawmakers want the government to bypass the banks and make direct loans. Some estimate that could save $2 billion a year. The banks and loan guarantee agencies plan to fight that change.