HOW UNDERGRADUATES ARE AFFECTED BY SERVICE PARTICIPATION

Based on entering freshman and follow-up data collected from 3,450 stu dents (2,287 women and 1,163 men) attending 42 institutions with feder ally funded community service programs, the impact of community servic e participation on undergraduate student development was examined. Eve n after regression analyses controlled for individual student characte ristics at the time of college entry, including the propensity to enga ge in service, results indicate that participating in service during t he undergraduate years substantially enhances the student's academic d evelopment, life skill development, and sense of civic responsibility.