Public Service Academy Act of 2006

Bill: 109-hr-6221
Sponsor: Rep. Shays, Christopher [R-CT-4]
Introduced: 2006-09-27 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Advice and consent of the Senate
Armed Forces and National Security
Collection of accounts
College administration
College costs
College teachers
Commerce
Congress
Crime and Law Enforcement
Curricula
Department of Homeland Security
Economics and Public Finance
Emergency Management
Environmental Protection
Federal aid to education
Federal employees
Finance and Financial Sector
Foreign students
Fund raising
Gifts
Government Operations and Politics
Government internships
Graduate education
Health
Higher education
Infrastructure
Infrastructure (Economics)
International Affairs
International education
Labor and Employment
Language and languages
Leadership
Local employees
Members of Congress
Nonprofit organizations
Presidential appointments
Public service employment
Public-private partnerships
Scholarships
Service academies
Social Welfare
State employees
Student activities
Tax-exempt organizations
Taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2006-09-27
text: 
Public Service Academy Act of 2006 - Establishes, in the Department of Homeland Security, a United States Public Service Academy providing a fully subsidized liberal arts education to students selected from a pool of candidates nominated by Congress and the President. Reserves 100 first-year seats for international students, whose tuition and expenses are to be covered by their home countries.
 
Requires incoming students to sign an Honor Code and be at least 17 years old, unmarried, and without dependents.
 
Requires students to: (1) participate in daily public service programming and, during their final year, plan and implement a one-year public service project; (2) take foreign language and international relations courses in preparation for spending their junior year studying abroad and interning at a U.S. mission; (3) spend eight weeks each summer engaged in specified training and internship activities; and (4) by the completion of their fourth semester, choose a public service concentration in the economy, education, emergency management, the environment, foreign policy, health care, law enforcement, or the public infrastructure.
 
Directs the Academy to assign graduates to public service employment in their field of concentrated study, where they must serve for at least five years. Includes private nonprofit organizations and private entities deemed to meet critical national needs, among acceptable public service employers. Requires foreign students to sign an agreement with the student's home country that meets the same conditions applicable to U.S. students. Authorizes the Academy to subsidize a student's graduate education in return for an extended public service commitment. 
 
Requires the Academy to raise 20% of its annual budget from private sources.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-11-02
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness.
action_date: 2006-09-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2006-09-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2006-09-27
text: Introduced in House