A plan to make a college education affordable for everyone is taking shape—and it’s long overdue.

President Bill Clinton devised a plan which would allow college students to exchange community service for the cost of their educations.

Under his proposal, students can either perform community service right out of high school and borrow for college, or borrow the money first and then pay off their loans with one year of service for every two years of assistance they received. Those who opt not to serve the community can choose to pay back a set percentage of their incomes.

Clinton’s proposal is not without drawbacks. For one, there would not be enough money to go around to every interested student. In addition, loan amounts would be capped and full tuition amounts would not necessarily be covered.

Despite these drawbacks, however, the plan should be considered a great strive forward in U.S. education.

During a time when SAT scores, literacy rates and the level of education as a whole are plummeting, it is a crime that so many U.S. citizens wanting to further their educations with a college degree cannot do so because of skyrocketing costs and limited incomes.

Additionally, there are also students who have to pay their own way through school and cannot give adequate attention to their studies because they are too busy juggling their part-time jobs.

To say the present U.S. educational situation is an unfortunate one is a gross understatement. Although Clinton’s proposal might not be the best solution for everyone, it will introduce many possibilities to today’s youth that have been unavailable for too long.

There is no question that the benefits of the program strongly outweigh the drawbacks. After all, although it won’t solve all of the problems of higher education, something is better than nothing.