Service Learning Projects: Sample Projects from the U.S.

Since 1995, Clemson University's students have been building a Habitat for Humanity house in the week or so before homecoming!

This football celebration entails student organizations building and decorating large displays on the campus commons known as Bowman Field. To these displays a Habitat for Humanity project was added. Over one hundred students (including graduate assistants and student athletes) actively participated in the initial year’s construction. A very small snippet inside the 2008 Clemson homecoming video can be seen on YouTube.

Hillsborough County schools teamed with students to establish an intergenerational link between our 480 at risk students and 500 senior citizens at a nearby, non-profit, HUD subsidized retirement home.

• 101 Ideas for Service and Learning

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill

Since 1989, Salisbury State University (SSU) has been participating in the VITA (Volunteers in Tax Assistance) program. SSU’s Perdue School of Business has been particularly successful in its involvement of the students and the community in the program, which offers free tax assistance to the public. Students prepare multiple tax returns, answer a variety of taxpayer questions and do quality reviews of returns brought in for filing. This year, the IRS hosted an appreciation reception for the 21 Perdue School Accounting majors who completed 2030 hours of service to their community.

The University of Denver, CO., and a local community center partnered to provide greater access to computers, Internet and technology training in an effort to strengthen the scope of resources within the Northwest Denver community.

If you are eligible for a Federal Work Study job, you may be eligible for financial work-study aid, especially if it involves working as a reading tutor for children or performing family literacy activities.

Some examples:

The Segal AmeriCorps Education Awardprovides several thousand dollars for each year of full-time service (prorated for part-time). Through 2009 the maximum education award was $4,725. Starting in 2010 the maximum education award is pegged to the maximum Pell Grant. The money can be used to pay for college costs or to repay student loans. The award may be claimed up to seven years after the service is completed.

The Presidential Freedom Scholarshipsare awarded subject to the availability of funding in the federal budget.

National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC)
This AmeriCorps program is an 11-month residential national service program intended for 18-24 year-olds. Participants receive education awards to pay for college tuition or to help repay education loan debt.