The Peace Corps has announced its annual listing of the colleges and universities that have the most alumni serving as volunteers in its ranks. The University of Washington held the top spot again this year with 72 graduates working in the Peace Corps. The University of Wisconsin was ranked second and the University of Florida and the University of Minnesota were tied for third place. Since the inauguration of the Peace Corps in 1961, the University of California, Berkeley has sent 3,615 graduates to the Peace Corps, the most of any college or university.
Historically Black college and universities are not well represented on the list of schools that send a lot of graduates to the Peace Corps. In fact, Howard University in Washington, D.C. was the only HBCU that made the list of the top 25 in the three categories of large universities, medium-size colleges and universities and small colleges and universities. This year there are 16 graduates from Howard University working in the Peace Corps, up from 13 a year ago. This puts Howard in 14th place on the list of medium-size colleges and universities that have 5,000 to 15,000 undergraduate students. The leading school in this category was George Washington University, which has 43 graduates serving in the Peace Corps.
I am a Howard University graduate. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana for three years as an ICT teacher, and a United Nations Volunteer in East Timor, and as Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Liberia. Thank to Howard University for my education, discipline, and commitment to services.
I believe HUs emphasis on volunteering (Note their Alternative Spring Break Program) contributes to this
One factor inhibiting other HBCU grads from volunteering may be that so many graduate with a heavy burden in regards to debt (school loans).
Just a thought . . .