You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.

With Jon Stewart about to leave The Daily Show, President Obama returned to the show for a final interview on the program. Stewart raised the issue of a lack of "shared sacrifice" in the country, and suggested that college become three years, followed by a year of national service. President Obama didn't endorse the program as policy, but praised the concept. "The best education I got," President Obama said, was working "in low-income neighborhoods." He said he learned that "I wanted to commit myself to something bigger than just me."

Obama went on to say that young people are more idealistic than people think. "This notion that young people have lost their idealism, or that they are too cynical or ironic, that's not true," he said. "But we have to give them pathways." Obama said that this is why "we've tried to expand AmeriCorps."