For the eighth year in a row, the University of Colorado at Boulder ranked second in the nation for the number of graduates serving overseas as Peace Corps volunteers.
The Peace Corps' annual list of top volunteer-producing colleges and universities named the University of Wisconsin at Madison first with 117 graduates currently serving, followed by CU-Boulder with 91 volunteers. The University of Michigan, the site of President John F. Kennedy's 1960 speech proposing the Peace Corps, came in third with 78 volunteers.
Colorado State University has 58 alumni serving this year, putting it 13th on the list. With 24 volunteers, Colorado College was third on the Peace Corps' list of top small colleges and universities. Topping out the list of schools with under 5,000 undergraduates was American University with 40 volunteers, followed by Tufts University with 25.
"The University of Colorado at Boulder has always been a wonderful campus for producing Peace Corps volunteers," said Jeff Martin, acting regional director for the Denver Peace Corps office. "CU students are known for being active and altruistic as well as for their love of the outdoors and sense of adventure. I think that this, along with their sense of community involvement, represents the basic attributes of all of our volunteers."
More than 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers are currently serving in 78 countries, working in communities to help fight hunger and disease, provide clean water, educate children and help start new businesses. The Peace Corps is working to increase the number of volunteers to 10,000 over the next few years, recruiting 400 more volunteers this year than last.
"Together, these colleges and the Peace Corps share a strong relationship," said Peace Corps Director Mark Schneider. "We hope to continue this spirit as we work to recruit a new generation of Peace Corps volunteers who will be leaders in the 21st century."
Since the Peace Corps began almost 39 years ago, virtually all volunteers have been college graduates, with 97 percent of the current crop holding at least a bachelor's degree and 13 percent having a graduate degree.