A recent New York Times article highlighted the dilemma that Harvard students face upon graduation. "Big Paycheck or Service? Students Are Put to Test" the headline read, and we heard from a collection of graduates who had to choose between earning six-figure starting salaries with hedge funds and consulting firms, or taking the less-lucrative path of public service. Guess which industry drew more graduates?

If you can stomach the tone of self-pity, the article is worth reading because it addresses some of the concerns that young people have as they prepare to embark on their careers. Financial considerations loom large, particularly for students graduating from private schools. Tuition has increased dramatically in the past decade - 47% at private schools and 63% at public schools.

Because of soaring tuition costs, notes the Project on Student Debt, the average college graduate owes about $20,000 upon graduating, an increase of more than 50% over the past decade. Faced with such heavy debt, students often must give up their dreams of public service careers in favor of more lucrative fields.

Even those young people who do choose to enter public service tend to define that term in a particular way that excludes the public sector. "Public service" is often equated with "community service" or "non-profit work," unless one is admitted to a prestigious program such as Teach For America. Simply put, many top graduates share a cultural disdain for public sector work.

Recent surveys conducted by the Council for Excellence in Government indicate that nearly 75% of young people report that they have never been asked to consider a career in the public sector, and barely a third of them consider a career in government service appealing. Even at schools devoted to public service, such as Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, the percentage of graduates going into the public sector has dropped by half in the past twenty-five years!

What can we do about this? Changes in recruitment and retention policies, reform of the federal GS system, and other internal changes are important, but they will not have the jolting kind of impact on our culture that we need. We need something bold, something visible that can capture the imagination of young people and channel their idealism and energy into public service. We need to build a U.S. Public Service Academy.

The Public Service Academy would be a "civilian West Point," where students would get a free education in return for a mandatory commitment to serve for five years in the civilian public sector. The Academy would raise the prestige and visibility of the public sector, and it would help transform how young people perceive and pursue public service.

The Academy started out as a simple idea with powerful implications. Now it is a bill with 20 senators and 96 representatives behind it. You can help advance the Academy initiative. Visit the website to find out how you too can get involved.

Also Interesting:

Guest Columnist: Chris Asch, U.S. Public Service Academy
Obama urges grads to enter public service
The federal workforce of tomorrow
How appealing is public service? A new poll has the answer
Non-profit launches new initiative to recruit talented, young federal workers