Creating Options

Most Americans equate joining the Peace Corps with putting one's life on hold. Few would argue that the organization does not do worthwhile work in developing countries, but most people simply have neither the time nor the inclination to devote two years to working in the Third World. It's a problem that is particularly acute for those with the technical skills the Peace Corps needs most. Graduates of medical, dental and engineering schools, carrying heavy student loan debts, often feel pressure to enter the workplace as soon as possible.

The Harvard Dental School's new cooperative venture with the Peace Corps is an important attempt to ameliorate that pressure. By making a six-month stint in the Peace Corps an acceptable way of filling the school's clinical requirements, the program allows students to participate in the Peace Corps for a comparatively short period of time while receiving academic credit.

Peace Corps Director Loret Miller Ruppe has spoken of the Harvard project as a model for other programs around the country. Short-term programs like this one will serve both the Peace Corps and the country at large. The Corps will be able to enlist the technically skilled volunteers it badly needs; more Americans will find public service a viable option.

Harvard too can learn from this venture. The Peace Corps is not the only organization that needs volunteers, and students in Harvard's other schools are interested in public service. The Kennedy School and the Law School already have instituted loan forgiveness programs for graduates who enter the public sector, but more can be done. The University should work to create other programs which give academic credit for volunteer work, in this country and abroad. Such programs well complement President Bok's periodic calls for students to enter public service.