EAST LANSING, Mich. — With 89 alumni currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers, Michigan State University ranks third among the nation’s largest universities producing volunteers, according to 2009 Peace Corps rankings.

The No. 3 slot is MSU’s highest to date, although the university has remained on the Peace Corps’ Top Colleges and Universities list since the start of the ranking system in 2001. Last year, MSU and the University of Michigan tied for the No. 5 spot, with both institutions producing 80 volunteers.  

First on the list of the top 25 large schools producing volunteers is the University of Washington, followed by the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Since Peace Corps’ inception in 1961, 2,151 MSU alumni have served in the Peace Corps, making MSU the No. 6 all-time producer of volunteers.

“The strong participation by MSU students in community service programs, combined with MSU’s historical mission as a land-grant university, have helped many students develop the knowledge base and life experience to be competitive Peace Corps applicants and effective volunteers,” said Jeff Riedinger, dean of International Studies and Programs.   

“The Peace Corps is a great opportunity for the future generation of leaders to gain global experience and understanding, which are more important now than ever before.”

MSU alumna Kirstin Webster, of Grand Rapids, agreed.

“The Peace Corps was an opportunity to learn about myself and the world while doing something respectable,” Webster said. “And now, I look at the world and at people very differently.”

Webster received her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from MSU in 2005. Following graduation, Webster served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Romania, where she taught English to third- through eighth-graders. And she worked at a center that served adolescents infected with HIV/AIDS while also serving on a Peace Corps committee to raise AIDS awareness.

Webster said her MSU education prepared her well.

“Since MSU has such a diverse student body, I learned to respect and appreciate other cultures,” Webster said.

The Peace Corps ranks schools according to undergraduate student body size. Small schools are those with fewer than 5,000 undergraduates; medium schools have between 5,001 and 15,000 undergraduates; and large schools have more than 15,000 undergraduates.

In 2006, MSU started a master’s international program in the areas of agricultural economics; crop and soil sciences; and community, agriculture, recreation and resource study. The program – which is offered at only a handful of universities – allows students to combine Peace Corps service with graduate studies for credit.

While not a requirement, 94 percent of Peace Corps volunteers are college graduates. Nine percent of volunteers have a graduate degree.

MSU has two graduate student Peace Corps recruiters on campus. The MSU Peace Corps Recruiting Office will host information sessions on Jan. 28, Feb. 25, March 25 and April 15, all at 6 p.m., in Room 303 of the International Center.

During the past year, the Peace Corps has experienced a 16 percent increase in applications – the largest jump in five years. Currently, there are 7,876 Peace Corps volunteers serving in 76 countries.

The MSU Peace Corps Recruiting Office is located in Room 4 of MSU’s International Center. For more information, call (517) 432-7474, e-mail msupeace@msu.edu or visit www.isp.msu.edu/peacecorps.

(Editor’s Note: Kirstin Webster is available to share her Peace Corps experience. Please contact Kristen Parker at (517) 980-0709 to arrange an interview.)

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Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.