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Score one for the high school students who can't dunk a basketball or who fall short of perfection on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

In other words, score one for the solid students whose interests also reach into their communities.

It was a pleasant surprise last week to learn that more colleges are awarding hefty scholarships to service-minded students who volunteer in their community. The scholarships rival the packages athletes receive.

An Associated Press story in this newspaper chronicled a New York high school senior who won a scholarship for performing hospice care in Belize. The award, from Drew University in New Jersey, would cover her full tuition, which runs about $36,000 a year.

Students don't have to go to some faraway, exotic locale to do rewarding charitable work. There's plenty available in their own back yard.

And while no one should perform volunteer work expecting reward, it's nice to know that students who perform such work are rewarded.

Increasingly, we are witnesses to a generation of young people seeking, in their own way, to make a difference in their neighborhoods, cities, nation and world.

We saw it six weeks ago when 200 Glenvar High School students -- nearly one-third of the Roanoke County school's student body -- spent a morning volunteering at five agencies of the United Way of Roanoke Valley.

They did everything from rake leaves to sort donated food staples to entertain and mentor children at a day care center.

We saw it in the surge of youth participation in last fall's presidential race. We see it every day in homeless shelters, day cares, food banks and tutoring programs.

This is not at all meant to ignore the contributions of older Americans who generously give time and patience each day to make someone's journey a little easier.

Besides thwarting involvement in risky behavior, volunteerism exposes youngsters to a wide variety of people, giving youth a better understanding at an earlier age of others -- the impoverished, elderly, disabled, ill, hungry and so on.

"There is no substitute for basic, one-on-one human interaction in trying to understand and appreciate other people's difficulties," Salem retired business executive Cabell Brand writes in his new book, "If Not Me, Then Who?"

College admissions officers look for applications showing a commitment to volunteerism. But rarely have service-minded students earned anything more than an "attaboy" -- definitely not financial aid approaching anything that resembles that of blue-chip athletes.

According to the AP, only a sliver of the $29 billion in grants colleges awarded last year went to service scholarships.

College administrators say that volunteerism is the quality that sets this civic-minded generation apart from previous ones. An estimated three-quarters of high school students provide some service to their community.

Let's not kid ourselves. Initially, many youth may enter volunteerism for less-than-altruistic reasons. But what begins as a resume-building tool for a college application often plants the seed for greater civic awareness and perhaps establishes a lifelong pattern of volunteerism.

Colleges are catering to that interest, developing curricula around service work. The new service scholarship programs are not just a one-time reward for what students did in high school.

They are structured much like athletic scholarships, with students committing to service projects that tie back to classroom learning.

Nearly 80 colleges match tuition awards that students earn through AmeriCorps, the federal community service program. Another 27 schools provide four-year service scholarships to 1,500 students.

"In my experience," writes Brand, who established Total Action Against Poverty in 1965, "the most ambitious, financially successful, civically involved and publicly respected people have sought not only to make an excellent living but also to make an excellent life.

"That is achieved primarily by devoting themselves -- their time, energy and material resources -- to improving the world around them, beginning with their own local communities."

What's so appealing about the growing trend of service scholarships is that at its core, college is about educating people. Education extends beyond the classroom and exposes youth to different people and experiences, preparing them for life as well-rounded citizens.

If we produce a generation of civic-minded young adults who care about their fellow citizens and not just about making the next buck, we benefit. Society benefits.

Shanna Flowers' column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.