Advocacy / Policy Center
The future of governance depends on hiring the best possible people for the job, and we advocate for the hiring of graduates from public administration and policy programs into public service around the world. They represent the best prepared, publicly spirited professionals for the next generation!
Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness: Is it at Risk?
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is a federal program that forgives federal student loans for borrowers who are employed full-time in an eligible federal, state or local public service job or 501(c)(3) nonprofit job and who have made 120 eligible on-time payments over the course of 10 years.
99% of Public Service Loan Forgiveness applicants have been denied as of 2019.
White Paper Competition
NASPAA Issues a Call for White Paper Proposals on Financing Graduate Education for Public Service
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$1,500 grant for the best student proposal
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Student submissions are CLOSED
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Faculty two-page proposal submissions will remain open temporarily until January 6th, 2020 at 11:59 PM EST
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Student Finalists selection on December 15th, 2019
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Student White paper submissions due March 15th, 2020
Competition Page
We advocate for more effective governance, and we support the students who can make that happen.
Advocacy In the United States
Since 1970, NASPAA has worked closely with different levels of government in the United States to create and sustain hiring programs targeted at students. NASPAA was present at the creation of the Presidential Management Fellowship Program in 1977, and at its incorporation into the Pathways Program in 2012--and we have fought to keep the PMF the flagship effort for hiring the most capable graduate students into federal service.
NASPAA has also advocated for our graduates with student loans, pressing for the continuation and greater accountability of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and of income-based repayment options for low-paid public servants. Students need to be able to afford to work in the public and nonprofit sector! -- and loan debt should not be a fatal deterrent to their commitment to serve. We monitor human capital policies at different levels, and the NASPAA Policy Issues committee is charged with identifying issues and formulating recommendations for NASPAA action.
Global Advocacy
The scope of NASPAA’s work since 2010 has been global: we advocate around the world for the hiring of the best and brightest students into public service. NASPAA’s Executive Director and elected leadership have spoken at UN, OECD, European Union, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank meetings about human capital issues, and in particular about creating and maintaining high flyer recruitment programs to capture the very best students for public service.
We also advocate globally for schools to train students for the skills of UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, to advance effective governance globally—and for employers to hire students with these important skills! We are engaged in efforts around the world to improve education and pedagogy at our schools to help accomplish the SDGs by 2030.