Economic and social factors that affect young people's sense of obligation for community service are identified, along with the influence schools and government can exert on students. The recent management of the American political economy has given young people concern for their own survival. College students who will graduate during the 1980s will not have access to the economic advantages afforded their parents. Some evidence indicates that college students today are more oriented toward self-interest and their own financial well-being than previous generations. Students may be responding to the messages they receive from political trends, including the reduction of support for education and the facts that scholarship aid to students is means-tested but Social Security and Medicare are not. However, despite these discouragements, students still have a sense of social responsibility. At Stanford University, a public service center coordinates internship and fellowship programs, a public policy forum, and career advising. A consortium of institutions, the Project for Public Community Service, helps promote service to others and develops networks to match student interns and volunteers to local and regional needs. At the national level, policy reforms need to recognize the importance of social investment in the young. (SW)