Colorado State University Ranks Near the Top in the Nation for Most Peace Corps Volunteers

Colorado State University ranks 12th in the nation for the second year in a row in the number of alumni serving as Peace Corps volunteers, according to 2002 rankings recently released by Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez. Forty-eight Colorado State graduates currently are working overseas as Peace Corps volunteers.

"At any one time, we have between 40 and 70 Colorado State University alumni dispersed throughout the world as volunteers," said Jeff Brooks, Peace Corps campus recruiter. "These dedicated graduates apply the skills they acquired while at Colorado State to help improve the lives of people in need and to cultivate cultural understanding, peace and friendship across the globe."

Student interest in joining the Peace Corps has increased at Colorado State since September 11, helping contribute to an approximate 25 percent overall increase in recruitment throughout Colorado and the region, Brooks said. "We hope that President Bush’s timely call to double the number of volunteers over the next five years will spark an additional increase in the number of Americans serving in Peace Corps," he said.

Colorado State has a strong history of providing volunteers and support to the Peace Corps that can be traced to the organization’s inception. Colorado State researchers, answering John F. Kennedy’s famous call to service, conducted one of the original feasibility studies in 1961 that led to the creation of the Peace Corps.

A total of 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers currently serve in 70 countries, working in communities to help fight hunger and disease, provide clean water, educate children and help people launch new businesses. Since the Peace Corps was established in 1961, the vast majority of volunteers have been college graduates. Of current volunteers, 82 percent hold bachelor’s degrees and 13 percent have graduate degrees.

The Colorado State University Peace Corps office is located in The Office of International Programs, Room 102E Laurel Hall on the main campus and can be reached at (970) 491-7706. To contact the Peace Corps, call 1-800-424-8580 or visit the Web at www.peacecorps.gov.