National service: A form of societal cost recovery for higher education?

The paper considers the case for making use of a broader form of cost recovery for higher education than is current in practice, in the literature or in policy debate: repayment in kind through service to the community. The focus of the paper is on developing country experience. While shemes of national and community service for students or graduates are in place in many developing countries, they are concerned for the most part with the personal development of the individual rather than with the potential contribution to society. The paper analyses the aims and content of a broad sample of existing service schemes and considers how they may be refocussed to constitute a from of cost recovery. A final section discusses implementation issues.