By: Ashley Evans
Posted: 4/25/07

Junior criminal justice major Jessica Clark said she would do anything for a free ride through her college education.

"Well, almost anything," Clark said.

Sophomore engineering major Rob Wallace said he too would do pretty much anything to avoid student-fee payments and parking fees.

"I had to take out a loan to pay for this year," Wallace said. "I have too many credit cards and an almost full-time job…. My education is suffering, my credit score is nonexistent and my bank account is running low. There's not much I wouldn't do in exchange for fully paid tuition and fees."

Assemblyman Mike Feuer said his goal of the Assembly Bill or the Civic Service Loan Assumption Program, is to ease the financial burden of obtaining a degree at a California public university while simultaneously improving the community.

Feuer plans to do this by offering students four years of fully paid student fees in exchange for two years of civic or community service, totaling at least 600 annual hours.

Feuer's Legislative Director David Stammerjohan said that for the purposes of the bill, civic service positions are defined as peace officers, firefighters, paramedics and medical technicians. He said that positions with any other city or county agency that is experiencing an ongoing difficulty with either recruiting or retaining such personnel are acceptable as well.

Students can also work or volunteer at a nonprofit organization as long as it dedicates a substantial portion of its resources to gang prevention, tutoring services, disaster preparedness, preservation of environmentally sensitive areas, programs for the homeless or substance abuse programs, according to a press release.

Under the CSLAP, any resident of California who is enrolled at a public campus in California, is in the process of obtaining a bachelor's degree, has completed at least 60 units, has agreed to work full time in civic service for at least two consecutive years, and is approved to receive a loan from an approved loan program is eligible to receive funding.

Stammerjohan said that upon completion of one year of civic service, the program would assume the value of two years of University of California or California State University tuition with the program, assuming the remaining amount upon completion of the second year.

He said that the deal will be contingent upon students fulfilling their commitment and that any student who does not do so will be required to pay the remaining balance.

Stammerjohan said that most of the students he talks to have incurred so much debt, while obtaining their bachelor's degree that community service is not even an option for them because they need to get a job, make money and start paying back loans and other fees as quickly as possible.

According to the Project on Student Debt website, in 2005, the overall average debt of students who attended a four-year institution in California was $15,203.

Stammerjohan said that while the bill has been supported by a number of students and legislature members it has received criticism from California taxpayers.

Tracy businessman Don Thompson said that he is against anything that could possibly increase his taxes.