Impact of AmeriCorps on RI Communities

At the request of ServeRI, the Rhode Island Longitudinal Data System conducted a study of AmeriCorps alumni, bringing together state data on AmeriCorps participation, workforce participation, and higher education (June 2024).

AmeriCorps offers pathways to success for both service recipients and service volunteers in Rhode Island. Working mainly in economically disadvantaged urban neighborhoods, AmeriCorps members provide vital services for those in need. AmeriCorps members who come from these same neighborhoods gain education and employment opportunities they may not otherwise have had.

Through Segal Education Awards and extensive training, AmeriCorps leverages federal funding to help thousands of Rhode Island AmeriCorps members complete college, enter the workforce, and contribute to the local economy. These members also benefit the state by putting their skills to work in the social sector and remaining civically engaged.

The Value of Service in Rhode Island

AmeriCorps, a federal program designed to meet critical needs in areas such as education, the environment, and public safety, makes an outsized impact on Rhode Island. As of 2019, Rhode Island ranks 7th among the states for per capita AmeriCorps participation, and Providence ranks 2nd in the nation among small cities (footnote 1). Since the state’s program began in 1994, more than 8,500 Rhode Island residents have served approximately 12 million hours in Rhode Island communities and have earned education awards totaling more than $30.4 million (footnote 2).

Why concentrate on AmeriCorps members in Rhode Island? Although any form of service is valuable, national service programs like AmeriCorps offer several features that set them apart:

• They leverage federal funding to address issues facing local neighborhoods.

• They offer training and structure to build skills and help ensure effectiveness of programs.

• In addition to a living allowance, AmeriCorps offers student loan deferment and a post-service Segal Education Award, which members can apply toward higher education costs or toward repaying qualified federal student loans.

• AmeriCorps offers programs requiring varying levels of service, but all require at least 300 hours within a 12-month term, with full-time members serving 1,700+ hours during their term. This is important because volunteers who serve for at least 300 hours (termed high-intensity volunteers) are more likely to provide value and to reap the benefits of service.

AmeriCorps awards federal funds to the Rhode Island Department of Education to administer local programs approved and supported by ServeRI, the Rhode Island Commission for National and Community Service.

This report focuses on a key group that has not only provided a huge benefit to Rhode Island communities through their service but who are positioned to make an ongoing impact in the state. The cohort includes the 506 AmeriCorps members who:

• Served in Rhode Island within the past 5 years.

• Were born in 1985 or later.

• Have served at least 300 hours in one year (high-intensity volunteers).

Figure 1: Cohort postsecondary enrollment timeline

Of the 506 individuals in this cohort, 466 were found in RILDS’ higher education data holdings. As Figure 1 illustrates, the majority of this cohort of AmeriCorps members first attended college during or between their AmeriCorps terms (when serving multiple terms). This finding defies the common notion of AmeriCorps members as solely those taking a “gap year” before starting college. It also aligns with the finding that most of the members in our group, including those from in-state and out-of-state, stayed in Rhode Island for college. Of the members from this cohort who were matched in the RILDS database, 66% attended a public institution and 79% attended a 4-year institution.

Figure 2: Cohort postesecondary enrollment outcomes.

The cohort’s most recent higher education enrollment reveals that Rhode Island is reaping the benefit of AmeriCorps members who remain in state to further their education. Among schools attended, seven of the top ten are in Rhode Island, and the top three are all public institutions. A side benefit is that these members are likely using the Education Award that comes with AmeriCorps service at these institutions- over $12 million has been paid to RI from 1994 to 2020 (footnote 3).

AmeriCorps members tend to remain in Rhode Island not only for school but also for work. Figure 3 shows 2022 workforce participation among AmeriCorps alumni (those who have completed their terms of service). Up to three years post-service, the majority of the cohort are working in the state, contributing to a net “brain gain,” with well-qualified employees from both in-state and out-of-state contributing to the Rhode Island workforce post-service. Roughly one out of two members remain in the Rhode Island workforce four years after serving.

Figure 3: Cohort alumni by 2022 RI workforce participation and years since last service term

In addition, AmeriCorps alumni are more likely than not to be working in public service fields. As shown in Figure 4, the top three industries of employment among our group are Educational Services, Health Care and Social Assistance, and Other Services (except Public Administration). The last category, a small industry in the state is probably more prevalent among this group because it includes fields such as grant-making, advocacy, and religious services. Nearly 55% of the jobs most recently held by this cohort were in the Educational Services industry, which aligns with the finding that the large majority of this cohort served at an AmeriCorps location whose focus area is Education. These findings are further discussed in the “Serving Neighborhoods in Needs” section below. Note that the industries in Figure 4 represent the cohort member’s most recently available post-service wage record.

Figure 4: Most common industries of employment of AmeriCorps cohort

Employment data also demonstrate this group’s ability to contribute to the state’s overall economic and social vitality. Health care and education are both important economic drivers, offering relatively high wages, employment stability, and projected job growth.

Tellingly, these industries also correlate with AmeriCorps service areas; those who serve develop not only the desire to work in the social sector but also the skills and experience to do so. AmeriCorps thus provides a form of demand-driven workforce development, where local need drives skill development, which is then deployed in the Rhode Island workforce.

Figure 5 shows this cohort’s inflation-adjusted median annual wage by age compared to that of a comparison cohort. The comparison cohort was limited to individuals who were born between 1985 and 2004 and who were enrolled in any Rhode Island high school that was attended by members of the AmeriCorps cohort. On average, AmeriCorps members are set on a path to exceed RI living wage by age 24. As shown in Figure 5, this AmeriCorps cohort consistently outearns their comparison cohort starting at age 23.

Figure 5: Wage outcomes of AmeriCorps cohort.