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March 2009 saw President Obama signing the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. The act expands and re authorizes the services and programs of the CNCS or Corporation for National and Community Service. Certain provisions in the act offer immense opportunities for higher education. The allocation and appropriation of funds by the campus will be monitored by Campus Compact which has played a major role in advocating the cause of higher education in this act.
The act is based on the maxim ‘Learn and Serve America’.

Institutions that take active part in community activities and are committed to service providing service oriented education and learning will be designated by the CNCS in conjunction with the education secretary. The commission will nominate 25 institutions annually which will benefit in the manner of allocation of funds for further development of service learning models. 
Institutions that meet the minimum community placement requirements of the Federal Work Study are eligible for the ‘Higher Education Learn and Serve Grants’. Funds will be allocated either as a consortium or for individual institutions.

Community based or school based service learning opportunities are provided for eligible partnership collaborate members in the form of Youth Engagement Zone program. They include the state education agencies, state commissions, higher education institutes, local government agencies, local educational agencies and entities that are community based.

A ten year study on impact and benefits of service learning programs will be conducted by an independent institution authorized by the CNCS. The study will focus on the impact of service learning programs on graduation rates, student engagement and academic achievement.
Service Corps Programs is a part of the Serve America Act which raises to $5350 the National Service Education Award.

The value of this award will be directly tied to the maximum amount of the Pell Grant. This award can be transferred by individuals older than 55 years to their child or grandchild. By the year 2017, AmeriCorps service opportunities will be increased from 75,000 to 250,000.

Education Corps is a program that authorizes assistance for students who are disadvantaged economically by going through the admission procedure in a smooth manner, helping students prepare for work at college level, mentoring, tutoring and conducting a training program at the pre-professional level for students who have enrolled in higher education institutions.

Other initiatives of the Act include the Healthy Futures Corps, which will assist in promoting health, addressing obesity in children, education patients on health issues and translation services. Clean Energy Service Corps will focus on green energy and recycling programs and the Veteran Corps will provide veterans with opportunity to serve. Opportunity Corps will educate people on financial literacy, provide job placements, strive to eliminate hunger and focus on housing unit rehabilitation.

If the act is implemented as scheduled in a phased manner it is likely to make a huge impact on improving the higher education scenario in America. Focusing on such initiatives to further higher education is clearly the need of the hour.