Peace Corps announces top volunteer producing colleges.

Parents Forum
1

<p>My theory is the wanderlust that inspired their ancestors to head west, is genetic.</p>

<p>
[quote]
For the first time ever, schools in a single state hold the No. 1 spot in the small, medium and large undergraduate school categories for the 2013 Top Colleges rankings for producing Peace Corps volunteers. Washington State now holds this noteworthy distinction, with University of Washington leading large schools with 107 alumni currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers, while Western Washington University and Gonzaga University lead in the medium and small categories with 73 and 24 currently serving graduates, respectively

[/quote]

<a href="http://www.peacecorps.gov/media/forpress/press/2186/"&gt;http://www.peacecorps.gov/media/forpress/press/2186/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

2

<p>Very cool. I was happy (but not surprised) to see UW-Madison and St. Olaf on the list…and surprised (and happy) to see University of Florida.</p>

3

<p>My nomadic DD is a military brat and joined the Peace Corps after graduating from one of those WA schools. </p>

4

<p>Emerardl:</p>

<p>That was last year. This year it is UW-Madison, <a href=“UW-Madison regains top ranking in recruiting Peace Corps volunteers”>http://www.news.wisc.edu/22537&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>Interesting how Berkeley is ranked first for the most volunteers historically since 1961, but does not make the top five for any of the lists this year (or in recent years).</p>

6

<p>I expect the student body has changed a bit at Cal as it has at a few other formerly " hippie" schools.</p>

7

<p>Not surprised at Gonzaga and Seattle U in the small college category as social justice is an integral theme at both schools.</p>

8

<p>The 2014 rankings:</p>

<p><a href=“http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/stats/schools2014.pdf”>http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/stats/schools2014.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>UF is still #2 (tied with the University of Washington). :-bd </p>

9

<p>Not surprised at Gonzaga and Seattle U in the small college category as social justice is an integral theme at both schools.
They are also both Jesuit schools, I believe.
Did you know the term " social justice", was coined by a Jesuit priest in the 1840’s?</p>

10

<p>Wow! Congratulations to these colleges for producing students who are trying to make a difference in the world. Great news indeed. I was always under the impression that liberal arts colleges in the New England States had the highest number of Peace Corps volunteers but I guess I was wrong.
Berkeley not making it anymore is a shame. With its liberal and somewhat hippie culture, you would think that its still on the top. Or has its culture changed? Any recent grad or a student of Berkeley here with a thought? </p>

11

<p>Berkeley is still #7 on the list (with 66 folks, compared to Wisconsin’s 90) and the schools ahead of it all have a larger base of undergrads (Berkeley has about 25k, while Wisconsin has about 30K). </p>

12

<p>The hippies can’t get into Berkeley anymore. </p>

13

<p>At one point Santa Clara University was on that list too. For a small school, they have a LOT of Peace Corps alums.</p>

14

<p>While UCB has fewer total UGs it takes more transfers and they increase the annual total BS/BA grads-7526 compared to 6661 at UW. Fun with stats</p>

15

<p>more fun with stats:</p>

<p>Madison is such a fun town, apparently no one wants to leave: just a 50% grad rate over four years. In contrast, Cal has a 69% grad in the same time period.</p>

16

<p>`Many UW programs are designed to take 4.5-5.0 yrs-Engineering., Education the two largest.</p>

17

<p>Is that because students cannot get the classes they need?
Can’t they add more sections of required courses?</p>

18

<p>That seems to be the case at UW, EmeraldKity. A friend’s son was told to plan on a 5 year program if he was interested in the engineering program. He didn’t apply.</p>