Volunteerism in College
Volunteerism in college refers to the engagement of students in unpaid work aimed at benefiting communities, gaining experience, and enhancing personal skills. This practice has deep historical roots, with significant volunteer organizations emerging in the 1800s, primarily linked to religious groups. For college students, volunteering can serve multiple purposes, including professional networking, skill development, and enhancing applications for scholarships and further education. Many colleges actively facilitate volunteer opportunities and may offer academic credit or financial incentives for student involvement.
While volunteerism is often viewed positively as a form of public service, it faces criticism regarding its motivations, particularly when activities are pursued mainly for personal gain, such as enhancing college applications. "Volunteer tourism," where individuals travel abroad to participate in volunteer projects, is often scrutinized for its limited impact compared to long-term local service initiatives. Despite declining volunteer rates in recent years, the practice remains an important avenue for social engagement and community support, addressing critical social issues like poverty and homelessness while fostering a sense of community and social awareness among students.
Volunteerism in College
Volunteering is the donation of work or effort toward a goal without the expectation of compensation. Volunteers may chose to donate their time or effort for the benefit of others or for nonmonetary benefits such as training, learning new skills, or career and educational advancement. Historically, volunteering has been associated with spiritual or religious organizations that have integrated charity and community involvement into their doctrine. In addition, volunteering has historically been seen as a youth activity, primarily because young individuals without employment may have more time to devote to volunteer activities.
Among college and precollege students, volunteering has historically been seen as a way to gain work experience and to develop skills that may make an individual more attractive to prospective employers or to help prepare for further educational opportunities. A number of colleges help students find volunteer opportunities and may reward student involvement with scholarship and work-study chances.
Background
The first large-scale volunteer organizations in Europe and the United States emerged in the 1800s, including the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), which first appeared in the United States in 1851, and the Salvation Army, which started in 1865. Most of the early volunteer organizations were Christian-oriented, but by the early 1900s, there were a number of prominent secular volunteer organizations providing aid and volunteer activities to benefit the poor, ill, and disadvantaged.
The Corporation for National and Community Service recorded a peak in American volunteerism (for the period from 1974 to 2005) in 2004, at which time 31.2 percent of college-age students and 28.4 percent of precollege-age teenagers were involved in some type of volunteer activity; in 2010, 26.1 percent of college students volunteered. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report released in February 2014, volunteer rates across the United States declined between the mid-2000s and 2014, reaching the lowest levels of volunteerism recorded since 2002 (the year that the BLS first began measuring volunteerism).
According to the BLS, volunteering is most common among religious organizations, and 27.3 percent of participants volunteered for educational or youth-service organizations. Some experts have speculated that declining levels of college volunteerism might be related to the increasing cost of college education. Data from the Census Bureau indicates 72 percent of college students worked in 2011; 20 percent worked full time.
Benefits of Volunteering
Volunteering provides a broad range of benefits to students, including learning new skills, networking and making contacts within the community, and the opportunity to qualify for scholarships and employment opportunities. Many universities in the United States offer college credit for students who volunteer or intern at various institutions, though these programs do not require charitable volunteer activities. In addition, volunteer activities are typically promoted as a way to impress admissions officers when applying to college or graduate programs.
In a 2011 article in the New York Times, journalist Pamela Paul described volunteer strategies seen as most effective in helping students gain admission to college or earn scholarships. According to interviews with admission board members, school officials tend to be more impressed by long-term dedicated service than by activities in which students spend a year, season, or shorter period volunteering abroad, sometimes called "volunteer tourism." Volunteering abroad for a semester or more is increasingly seen as an upper-class activity that does not connote integrity in the same way that local or longer-term volunteer activities do. Admissions specialists reported being able to tell the difference between students whose volunteer activities reveal a passion for service and outreach from those whose volunteer activities are strategies for advancement.
A 2013 article in US News reported on a number of scholarship opportunities available for students who spent time in volunteer activities. Among the programs listed was the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards Program, which takes into account any volunteer activity conducted in the year prior to a student’s application and offers scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. Another project mentioned is a program through the website Youth Action Net, which gives $500 grants to students aged eighteen to twenty-nine who create their own volunteer project or organization. In addition to scholarships, there are fellowships available for college volunteers, such as one offered through the Partnership for Public Service, which includes an $800–1000 per month stipend.
According to the University of California, San Diego, website, the benefits of volunteering also include allowing students to try new activities and potentially test career options. In addition, volunteering brings people together and therefore helps students to gain contacts that can be useful in later career growth. Volunteers also learn about the function and politics of governmental and community-based organization that can help them to develop a deeper understanding of society. In addition to personal benefits, volunteer programs also provide a number of important benefits in terms of outreach and community service. Many college-student-oriented volunteer programs in the United States address pressing social issues such as homelessness, poverty, and youth literacy.
Impact
While volunteerism is generally considered an altruistic example of public service, critics have argued that the emphasis on volunteering in scholarships and college admissions encourages volunteering as a strategy to accrue personal benefits rather than one that emphasizes social, societal, and cultural benefits. In particular, criticism has been levied against "volunteer tourism" in which teenagers, college students, and adults travel to desirable international locations while donating time to public-service projects. In a 2010 article in the New York Times, Barmak Nassirian, executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, called such activities an example of "affluent tourism masquerading as community service."
In addition, some research has suggested that volunteer programs, especially short-term student volunteer activities, have less impact on communities and at-risk groups than investing in the creation of local, permanent service organizations. This criticism has been applied to "medical volunteerism" abroad, where short-term outreach programs have significant impact, but far less than would be gained by encouraging volunteers to form and manage domestically run medical-outreach facilities. Despite the criticism and the general decline in participation, volunteerism is still seen as a necessary social endeavor and a beneficial educational opportunity.
Bibliography
Brumble, Melody. "Fewer College Students Volunteer Their Time." USA Today. Gannett, 22 Jan. 2012. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
"College Admissions: Volunteer Service That Gets You into College." Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 5 Dec. 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
"Community Service Can Pay Off with College Scholarships." US News. US News & World Report, 25 Apr. 2013. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
"Community Service: Top Ten Reasons to Volunteer." UCSD. University of California, San Diego, 2014. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
Davis, Jessica. "School Enrollment and Work Status: 2011." American Community Survey Briefs. US Census Bureau, Oct. 2012. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
"Economic News Release: Volunteering in the United States, 2013." Bureau of Labor Statistics. US Dept. of Labor, 25 Feb. 2014. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
Paul, Pamela. "Does Helping Out Help You?" New York Times. New York Times, 7 Jan. 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
Tugend, Alina. "The Benefits of Volunteerism, if the Service Is Real." New York Times. New York Times, 30 July 2010. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
"Volunteer Growth in America: A Review of Trends since 1974." National Service. Corporation for National & Community Service, Dec. 2006. PDF file.