Princeton University's bold service ambition

Princeton is preparing to offer a year abroad, doing social service work in foreign countries for students before the students enter college. The initiative, called “Princeton in the World,” implicitly integrates several key arguments for service, and even includes an element of the compulsory.

The President of the Institute of International Education, in an interview with the New York Times, expressed that first-year students are “too young when they start college.” It seems that he is not necessarily referring to the numeric age of students, but rather their developmental stage.

Further, one of the stated benefits to students is that such service would “prepare students for a more meaningful Princeton experience.” This is the essence of a pragmatic educational paradigm: experience will deepen the meaning of classroom learning.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the proposal is the notion that such an experience would be mandatory and that an institution has a role in prescribing what may be best for students developmentally. Though Princeton is a private university, there is an idea bound up in this proposal with broader implications. This institution historically charged with developing youth has recognized that there is a disconnect between what the institution should do and what it is doing, and the way to ameliorate the disconnect is with a particular type of experience. Moreover, the institution (with elements of state/public funding) has identified that this experience is so important, so vital to the healthy development of individuals, that the experience may ultimately be mandatory for all incoming students.

This initiative is certainly one to watch.