**(a) In general** As a condition of receiving a national service education award under division D, a participant in an approved national service position shall be required to perform full- or part-time national service for at least one term of service specified in subsection (b).
**(b) Term of service**
(1) **Full-time service** — An individual performing full-time national service in an approved national service position shall agree to participate in the program sponsoring the position for not less than 1,700 hours during a period of not more than 1 year.
(2) **Part-time service** — Except as provided in paragraph (3), an individual performing part-time national service in an approved national service position shall agree to participate in the program sponsoring the position for not less than 900 hours during a period of not more than 2 years.
(3) **Reduction in hours of part-time service** — The Corporation may reduce the number of hours required to be served to successfully complete part-time national service to a level determined by the Corporation, except that any reduction in the required term of service shall include a corresponding reduction in the amount of any national service educational award that may be available under division D with regard to that service.
(4) **Extension of term for disaster purposes**
(A) *Extension* — An individual in an approved national service position performing service directly related to disaster relief efforts may continue in a term of service for a period of 90 days beyond the period otherwise specified in, as appropriate, this subsection or [section 12613(d) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section12613/d&num=0&edition=prelim) or in [section 4954 of this title](https:
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Stable record: federal_law:legal_authorities:record_usc_4cf6e0f02f74e4f5e03bb6bf Source file: Laws/federal/codes/united-states-code/title-42/section-12594-terms-of-service--172a960613.md Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded Passage SHA-256: 623649c9d9ab7b5a7f2e6a8916cc9a5e74a59e8757417191894195ed88c18b82 Retained source evidence SHA-256: 90ad36f77ce22c97015ccac1bea5611f3bb5fc7f4c5b1cb88593b9f2b4c51b9b
Source location: Title 42, Chapter 129, § 12594; chapter-129-national-and-community-service.md
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**(a) In general** As a condition of receiving a national service education award under division D, a participant in an approved national service position shall be required to perform full- or part-time national service for at least one term of service specified in subsection (b).
**(b) Term of service**
(1) **Full-time service** — An individual performing full-time national service in an approved national service position shall agree to participate in the program sponsoring the position for not less than 1,700 hours during a period of not more than 1 year.
(2) **Part-time service** — Except as provided in paragraph (3), an individual performing part-time national service in an approved national service position shall agree to participate in the program sponsoring the position for not less than 900 hours during a period of not more than 2 years.
(3) **Reduction in hours of part-time service** — The Corporation may reduce the number of hours required to be served to successfully complete part-time national service to a level determined by the Corporation, except that any reduction in the required term of service shall include a corresponding reduction in the amount of any national service educational award that may be available under division D with regard to that service.
(4) **Extension of term for disaster purposes**
(A) *Extension* — An individual in an approved national service position performing service directly related to disaster relief efforts may continue in a term of service for a period of 90 days beyond the period otherwise specified in, as appropriate, this subsection or [section 12613(d) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section12613/d&num=0&edition=prelim) or in [section 4954 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section4954&num=0&edition=prelim).
(B) *Single term of service* — A period of service performed by an individual in an originally-agreed to 11 So in original. Probably should be “originally-agreed-to”. term of service and service performed under this paragraph shall constitute a single term of service for purposes of subsections (b)(1) and (c) of [section 12602 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section12602&num=0&edition=prelim).
(C) *Benefits* — An individual performing service under this paragraph may continue to receive a living allowance and other benefits under [section 12594 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section12594&num=0&edition=prelim) but may not receive an additional national service educational award under [section 12595 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section12595&num=0&edition=prelim).
**(c) Release from completing term of service**
(1) **Release authorized** — A recipient of assistance under [section 12571 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section12571&num=0&edition=prelim) or a program sponsoring an approved national service position may release a participant from completing a term of service in the position—
(A) for compelling personal circumstances as determined by the organization responsible for granting the release, if the participant has otherwise performed satisfactorily and has completed at least 15 percent of the term of service; or
(B) for cause.
(2) **Effect of release for compelling circumstances** — If a participant eligible for release under paragraph (1)(A) is serving in an approved national service position, the recipient of assistance under [section 12571 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section12571&num=0&edition=prelim) or a program sponsoring an approved national service position may elect—
(A) to grant such release and certify the participant’s eligibility for that portion of the national service educational award corresponding to the portion of the term of service actually completed, as provided in [section 12603(c) of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section12603/c&num=0&edition=prelim); or
(B) to permit the participant to temporarily suspend performance of the term of service for a period of up to 2 years (and such additional period as the Corporation may allow for extenuating circumstances) and, upon completion of such period, to complete the remainder of the term of service and obtain the entire national service educational award.
(3) **Effect of release for cause** — A participant released for cause may not receive any portion of the national service educational award.
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
§ 12594. Living allowances for national service
participants
(a) Provision of living allowance
(1) Living allowance required
Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a national
service program carried out using assistance
provided under section 12571 of this title shall
provide to each participant who participates
on a full-time basis in the program a living al-
lowance in an amount equal to or greater than
the average annual subsistence allowance pro-
vided to VISTA volunteers under section 4955
of this title.
(2) Maximum living allowance
Except as provided in subsection (c), the
total amount of an annual living allowance
that may be provided to a participant in a na-
tional service program shall not exceed 200
percent of the average annual subsistence al-
lowance provided to VISTA volunteers under
section 4955 of this title.
(3) Federal work-study students
The living allowance that may be provided
under paragraph (1) to an individual whose
term of service includes hours for which the
individual
receives
a
Federal
work-study
award under part C of title IV of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) 1
shall be reduced by the amount of the individ-
ual’s Federal work study award.
(4) Proration of living allowance
The amount provided as a living allowance
under this subsection shall be prorated in the
case of a participant who is authorized to
serve a term of service that is less than 12
months.
(5) Waiver or reduction of living allowance
The Corporation may waive or reduce the re-
quirement of paragraph (1) with respect to
such national service program if such program
demonstrates that—
(A) such requirement is inconsistent with
the objectives of the program; and
(B) the amount of the living allowance
that will be provi