President Obama has proposed a financial aid policy whereby students who complete 100 hours of community service would receive a tax credit of US$4,000 for college. After lawmakers cut this proposal from previous legislation, the administration was tasked with studying the feasibility of implementation. However, the implications of the policy for potential and current college students are unclear, especially for students who have the most financial need. Given existing literature about student volunteerism, tax credits, and inducements as policy instruments, combined with analyses of student volunteerism from three national data sets, this study explores disparities in student volunteerism by income level and school type and draws implications from these results concerning who would be most likely to benefit from such a policy.
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