"DAVIS, Calif. — Only streetlights cut the darkness as University of California, Davis student Malik Vega-Tatum climbed into his car on a Wednesday morning in January. After arriving at La Tourangelle Community Garden in Woodland 20 minutes later, he got right to work, using a hoe to tend frost-kissed rows.

Since the school year began, Vega-Tatum has given more than 356 hours of his time to Yolo Farm to Fork, a nonprofit that supports school gardens and farm-based education. In exchange, he will receive $700 a month for 10 months from the #CaliforniansForAll College Corps program, class credit and experience with food production science. When he reaches the 450-hour mark, he’ll get a $3,000 award. He’ll graduate with $10,000 less debt and with work experience he hopes will give him an edge when he applies to medical school next year.

Vega-Tatum has held jobs before, but College Corps is different. Conceived as a domestic Peace Corps or “California GI Bill,” it is designed to help students pay for college while facilitating community service throughout California to help the state tackle some of its most pressing challenges. Some 3,200 students, many of them the first in their families to attend college, are participating in the inaugural year of the New Deal-esque program, in service jobs in K-12 education, food insecurity and climate mitigation."

Read the full story at The Hechinger Report