A law being floated in the Texas House would require college students to perform community service before they would be allowed to graduate.
San Antonio Representative Trey Martinez Fisher says he wrote the bill with one objective in mind.
"We want to make sure our students are coming out of college with a well-rounded experience"
Martinez Fischer points out that there needs to be a meaningful experience for students that is outside of the academic framework.
According the bill, students would be required to complete 20 hours of community service before graduation for a baccalaurate degree.
Not everyone testifying before the House's Committee on Higher Education shares Martinez-Fisher's optimism.
"It's not really about voluteerism as it is about mandated service, but using the term voluteerism makes the idea more acceptable," said Robert Pinhero, who heads up the Texas Association of Non-profit Organizations.
Pinhero also fears that many non-profits will be financially strained by the measure because of the number of hours they will require to train their new pool of temporary labor.
For now the bill was left pending in committee.
