The study is a survey of the different kinds of voluntary rural service (service-learning) corps of students from the institutions of higher education in Malaysia. The history, organization, and activities of the service corps are examined, and this type of student social action is viewed with reference to the role of higher education in the social development of the country. Such student service activities are also considered in the wider perspective of other developing countries throughout the world, and an overview is given of the organizational, financial, and political constraints of the program in Malaysia. Statistics cited include: student enrollment in five institutions (University of Malaya, Science University, National University, University of Agriculture, and National Institute of Technology) for recent years; a list of tertiary institutions and their years of establishment; enrollments in upper secondary and postsecondary schools in peninsular Malaysia, 1965-73; Full-time students in the universities, 1959-74; father's social class by sex and ethnicity in final-year students at the University of Malaya; enrollment in tertiary education by ethnicity, 1973-74; estimated expenditure of the teaching force scheme, 1973; public expenditure on education as a percentage of national income, 1960 and 1968; and percentage distribution of ethnic groups of enrollment in the University of Malaya, 1959-74. A bibliography is included. (Author/MSE)