Learn and Serve America
From Service-Learning Wiki
Learn and Serve America is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, that provides grants to states to provide service-learning opportunities in schools and community-based organizations. Annually, over 1 million students participate in projects supported by its grants. It also supports the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse, a library of service-learning resources for use by grantees. [1]
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State Education Agencies
Learn and Serve America is based in the Washington, DC offices of the Corporation for National and Community Service. However, the administration of service-learning programs within each state is coordinated through a State Education Agency. The SEA, usually located inside the state department of education, subgrants to local projects and can serve as a statewide coordinator of service-learning activities, within and beyond the scope of Learn and Serve funds.
Each state's SEA representative belongs to the State Education Agency K-12 Service-Learning Network (SEAnet), which aids collaboration between SEAs.
Types of Grants
LSA provides several different types of grants to organizations within and across states. For a complete list of grantees and links to their websites, visit the Learn and Serve America Grantee Website List.
School-Based Formula Grant
Roughly 45% of all Learn and Serve America funds are dedicated to this grant program, which is non-competitive and allocates a set grant amount to the State Education Agency. The SEA in turn subgrants to local schools, which must work in partnership with one or more community organizations, to fund service-learning programs. In addition, Learn and Serve SEA program directors coordinate a network of teachers and other service-learning practitioners, oversee program evaluation, provide professional development, monitor their subgrants and report to Learn and Serve AMerica on their accomplishments.
School-Based Competitive Grant
SEAs may compete alongside nonprofit organizations, and Indian tribes in a nationwide competitive grant program. In this competition, applicant nonprofits must be regional or national in scope and must make subgrants in two or more states.
Community-Based Grant
Community-based organizations that operate in two or more states are able to compete for grants that help develop service-learning programs and implement them at the local level. According to the Learn and Serve America website, a key objective of this grant program -- as for all Learn and Serve America programs - is to involve youths from disadvantaged circumstances in service.
Tribal and U.S. Territory Grants
By law, up to 3% of Learn and Serve funding is set aside for tribal and territory service-learning programs. These grants are competitive and are awarded similarly to the other competitive grant programs.
Higher Education Grant
Institutions of higher education or consortia of colleges and universities can also apply for Learn and Serve grants. These funds go to support excellent programs that engage students on-campus with the off-campus community. The goal of these programs is to improve institutionalization of service-learning across departments and within the entire university community.
Past Programs
Funding History
Funding for Learn and Serve America has varied from an early high of $46 million in fiscal year 1995, to a low in recent years. The budget request for 2009 was $32,099,000. [2]
| Fiscal Year | Budget (thousands) |
|---|---|
| 1994 | 40,000 |
| 1995 | 46,000 |
| 1996 | 43,000 |
| 1997 | 43,000 |
| 1998 | 43,000 |
| 1999 | 43,000 |
| 2000 | 43,000 |
| 2001 | 42,905 |
| 2002 | 43,000 |
| 2003 | 42,721 |
| 2004 | 42,746 |
| 2005 | 42,656 |
| 2006 | 37,125 |
| 2007 | 37,125 |
| 2008 | 37,459 |
| 2009 | 32,099 |
References
- ^ Learn and Serve America Programs. Corporation for National and Community Service. Retrieved from http://www.learnandserve.gov/about/programs/index.asp on May 8, 2008.
- ^ Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Request. Corporation for National and Community Service. Retrieved from http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/budget/index.asp on June 2, 2008.
