Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** from 2014 to 2022, the number of…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** from 2014 to 2022, the number of programs offering tax-based service learning decreased 25 percent, from 248 programs to 185 (blanthorne & westin, 2016; jeong ET AL., 2023). Despite the historical commitment of land-grant institutions to tax education through programs such as the land grant university tax education foundation and cooperative extension's active participation in the IRS's volunteer income tax assistance (vita) program, less than 5 percent of tax-based service-learning programs exist in agriculture and human science disciplines. However, there's a growing interest in these fields to enhance and broaden tax-based service-learning to improve student learning outcomes. This project addresses this by establishing a comprehensive tax-based service-learning curriculum across partner institutions, focusing on north carolina agricultural and technical state university (ncat) and the university of georgia (UGA). The initiative aims to build faculty capabilities, foster institutional linkages, and attract underrepresented students to human science graduate programs. Specifically, IT will create a self-sustaining program at ncat by training faculty and staff and developing a curriculum that maximizes student development through experiential learning. This curriculum will also be implemented at UGA and shared with other schools.additionally, the project intends to strengthen institutional ties between the UGA and ncat, facilitating a smoother transition for students into graduate studies in human sciences and encouraging more underrepresented undergraduates to pursue advanced degrees in the field. This initiative underscores the critical role of tax-based service-learning in preparing civically engaged, professionally adept graduates.