Charity Work Holds Appeal for Students

College students show a strong interest in providing “public service,” a national poll has found.

Most prefer to meet that goal by working with non-profit and educational organizations rather than through government and politics, according to the survey commissioned by the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy. Among 800 students ages 30 and under, 27 per cent said the best way “to give something back” was through non-profit work and 22 per cent said through education, while only 17 per cent said through politics.

Many — three out of four college students — said they had volunteered for a good cause in the past two years.

But while the students expressed a high level of interest in community service, a majority — 60 per cent — said they opposed efforts to make service requirements mandatory in schools or in the military.

Still, 80 per cent of students said they were in favor of government and other incentives, such as extensions on repaying student loans, as a way to encourage people to perform community service.

The Panetta Institute was started by the former White House chief of staff and his wife.

A summary of the survey can be found on the institute’s Web site at http://www.panettainstitute.org.