This is a good idea. It combats the something for nothing mentality. If you want help in paying for college, etc. You need to do something for your country.
Larry, you are right, this can take many forms. I am sure there are other countries we can look at for some sort of model on this.
I have thought something similar to this could help with healthcare. In my mind, part of the high cost of healthcare has to do with supply and demand. So, the gov can open more medical schools and allow people to attend on their dime. Then at the same time the gov sets up clinics in communities around the country. When these people graduate they work in the clinics for 2, 4, 6 years, whatever is deemed appropriate, and then they can go out and set up for themselves (if they want).
There are lots of things that can work like this. We just need to be sure that these things are run efficiently. This is big reason I am not for the gov running things. In many/most cases they seem to be inefficient in what they do. Education is a good example, so is the pentagon in many cases.
But if we are going to do this, then maybe we should establish a curriculm at colleges around the country to create Government Efficiency Experts. People who study how to run a govermental organization in a lean and efficient way.
Ha, it is early, I may be rambling too much.
