UW News

February 11, 2010

UW again named top contributor of Peace Corps volunteers

For the fourth year in a row, the UW has been named top contributor of Peace Corps volunteers from undergraduate alumni. The University also tied with University of Texas at Austin for top contributor of volunteers from graduate alumni. All told, 101 UW alumni served in 2009.


Some of the UW students were in the Evans School Peace Corps Masterʼs International track. It focuses on international development of nongovernmental organizations and includes two years of Peace Corps service in a master of public administration degree. Currently, nine Evans School Peace Corps students are abroad, and 19 are taking classes in the program.


The School of Forest Resources and the Department of Global Health also offer Peace Corps Master’s International degrees.


The Peace Corps received more than 15,000 applications in 2009, an 18 percent increase over 2008. Itʼs the large number of applications since the agency began accepting electronic applications in 1998.


There are 7,671 Peace Corps volunteers serving in 76 countries. For more information about the rankings, go to http://www.peacecorps.gov.