Aspiring teacher Keyuiana Schexnayder found the AmeriCorps program at California State University, Dominguez Hills a perfect fit: In exchange for tutoring struggling students at an inner-city school, she is earning money for college, both of which put her on the right track.

“I was thinking about a career in teaching, and I wanted to see what it was like to be in a classroom,” she said. “Since I’ve been in there, I’ve decided this is what I want to do.”

But other Dominguez Hills students may not get the same chance.

The federal government has slashed AmeriCorps funding, forcing states to gut their member rolls and turn away thousands of young people seeking college money in exchange for community service. In California, AmeriCorps funding is expected to drop from $30 million this year to $13 million in the coming school year. Instead of enlisting 6,000 members as it has done in years past, the state has money for just 1,600.

“It’s devastating,” said Chuck Supple, executive director of the governor’s Office on Service and Volunteerism.

Dominguez Hills is one of the universities affected by the cutbacks.

The Carson university has money for just 10 AmeriCorps spots in the upcoming year, though it has traditionally supported more than 30 participants. And because Dominguez Hills students fulfill their service hours by helping out in local classrooms, the reductions could affect hundreds of schoolchildren.

In 2003, the AmeriCorps members from Dominguez Hills tutored about 500 students, but that number is likely to dwindle in the coming year to 100, program officials said.

“We’re sort of prepared for the worst, but we’re still hoping to have some support,” said Claire Alvarez, the program facilitator at Addams Elementary School in Long Beach, where several Dominguez Hills AmeriCorps members volunteer. “To have that extra adult in the room can really make a difference for a lot of kids.” Since its inception in 1993, AmeriCorps has sent more than 250,000 people into communities to work on public health, education, disaster relief and homeland security issues. Participants agree to donate 450 to 1,700 hours of community service a year in exchange for a small stipend and education awards of up to $4,725, which can be used to pay back student loans or finance college expenses.

The education awards were an appealing incentive for Dominguez Hills senior Sharon Bordeaux, who worked at a Long Beach middle school. But she was most impressed by the chance to work with schoolchildren.

“I’m trying to be a teacher, but I haven’t worked a lot of hours in the classroom,” Bordeaux said. “This gave me hands-on classroom experience with students that I think is invaluable.”

Likewise, Schexnayder is spending her summer in a kindergarten class at Addams Elementary School. Aside from grading papers, she works with small groups of children who need a little extra help, reviewing reading sounds and correcting spelling. “It’s so good to work with the kids, especially when they grasp a concept I’ve been trying to get them to learn,” Schexnayder said. “It’s just really gratifying.”

Though college presidents and community organizations have lobbied Washington to preserve AmeriCorps, the likelihood of extra funds coming through is slim, Supple said.

“This fall,” he said, “teachers and parents and after-school providers and children are going to be looking around and wondering where did 4,000 AmeriCorps members go?”