AmeriCorps was created in 1993 with the aim of encouraging community volunteerism by enlisting young people in public- service activities ranging from park cleanups to tutoring. In exchange -- in addition to a stipend -- students qualify for education grants, which were touted as a G.I. Bill for the public sector.

After five years, the program has just sworn in its 100,000th member. But critics question the program's effectiveness, and they say it has been politicized by using members for pet education and environmental projects.

• The program costs $18,000 per participant in 1996; but officials have promised Congress to cut the cost to $15,000 per participant in 1999.

• On average, only slightly more than half the program's graduates use their $4,725 education grants, and two- thirds of AmeriCorps members already were attending college or holding degrees when they joined.

• People who have participated in the program have up to seven years to use the grants, but the rate is unlikely to approach the G.I. Bill, which was used by about 80 percent of World War II veterans.

After a half-hearted attempt to kill the program this year, Congress increased its annual budget to $436 million.

Source: Editorial, "AmeriCorps Comes Up Short," USA Today, November 9, 1998.