Meatstick Opinion: Hillary's Public Service Academy

Hillary has recently spoken about a new idea she has to create a national "Public Service Academy" that would be set up similar to the United States Military Academy. She told a crowd of Democrats yesterday:

"I'm going to be asking a new generation to serve," she said. "I think just like our military academies, we need to give a totally all-paid education to young men and women who will serve their country in a public service position."

I actually think this is a decent idea when taken at face value. I have worked for and with civilian run Department of Defense organizations and the lack of young, intelligent employees is staggering. In fact, the average federal civilian age is 47 and 44% of federal employees are eligible for retirement in the next 5 years. For whatever reason (probably money) young American students don't seem to be attracted to a long life of federal service.

I have some issues with her idea. For one, she is proposing it be placed under the control of the Department of Homeland Security. I think that department already has a big enough job and more important things to worry about. Also, it is estimated that it costs $500,000 to send a student to a service academy for 4 years. Since Hillary's academy would be funded 80% by the government and then subtract roughly $100,000 for military training that wouldn't be involved in a civilian academy, we are looking at around $300,000 per student. When you multiply that by 1,000 students per class you are looking at $300,000,000 for the cost of one graduating class. There have been serious efforts in the past to close the other service academies for this very reason. The only thing that have helped keep them open is their history and what they have done for our country. This new public service academy doesn't have a long history and tradition on their side. Also, Hillary proposes that each student be required to serve as a public servant for 5 years after graduation (similar to the military academies 5 year service obligation). West Point officers are leaving service after their five years at the highest rate in history. From the Boston Globe:

According to statistics compiled by West Point, of the 903 Army officers commissioned upon graduation in 2001, nearly 46 percent left the service last year -- 35 percent at the conclusion of their five years of required service, and another 11 percent over the next six months. And more than 54 percent of the 935 graduates in the class of 2000 had left active duty by this January, the statistics show.

If the new public service academy had graduates leaving public service at rates like West Point, would all this effort to start the school really be worth it? I agree with Hillary that our country needs to come up with a plan to attract young professionals to public service, but I don't think that starting a new academy is really the answer.