Giving Compass' Take:

• On average, only 26 percent of all university students typically volunteer. University of Maryland's Do Good Institute ecently published a report on the gap in volunteers of this age group. 

• How can philanthropists get involved to engage and encourage college students to volunteer? Can they collaborate with higher education institutions to do so?

• Read VolunteerMatch's article about how to better utilize technology in order to encourage more community service. 

More than three quarters of entering college students feel it’s their duty to help others in need, a sentiment that’s grown steadily in recent years. But how much are they willing to commit? On average, just 26% of all university students typically volunteer—lower than the number among high schoolers.

“We’re at an all-time high of entering college students’ desire to do good, but we are far from an all-time high in college students actually doing good,” says Robert Grimm, the director of University of Maryland’s Do Good Institute, which has compiled a report called “Good Intentions, a Gap in Action” about this trend.

The number of college students volunteering is the lowest of all age groups, with higher interest at 29% among high schoolers, and then a surge that surpasses that on into young adulthood and middle age.

All that’s troubling for a number of reasons. Theoretically, volunteering should increase among the college set because they’re better educated, more affluent, and have more flexible schedules, all factors associated with people taking time to lend a hand at nonprofit organizations.

When that doesn’t happen, students don’t just miss out on chances to grow professionally and emotionally: The Do Good report shows that many aren’t going on to volunteer as adults either, shutting down a key source of manpower for aid groups, and even shutting down a source of funding–many groups use volunteering as a step to court future donors.

The University of Maryland has tried to address that by encouraging students to act both more entrepreneurially and more philanthropically, as using business as a force for good is often more sustainable than just making ad hoc donations.

Read the full article about college student volunteers by Ben Paynter at Fast Company