EAST LANSING, Mich. — Since the inception of the Peace Corps in 1961, 2,101 Michigan State University alumni have served as volunteers, making MSU the No. 5 producer of volunteers overall, according to recently released Peace Corps rankings.

According to the 2008 rankings, MSU also moved from ninth to a two-way tie for fifth place with the University of Michigan for number of current volunteers. MSU increased its volunteer numbers from 71 to 80 volunteers this year.

In the list of the top 25 large schools producing Peace Corps volunteers, the University of Washington is first, followed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Colorado-Boulder and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

“MSU’s standing as a leader in study abroad participants and Peace Corps volunteer numbers, as well as a marked increase in the number of international students attending the university, reflects our commitment to actively engaging our students in cultures and life beyond our state and national boundaries,” said Jeff Riedinger, dean of International Studies and Programs.

“It also is representative of our increasing presence throughout the world, educating and working with partners to solve economic and social problems in this country and abroad,” he said.

Lakenda Love of Detroit, a 2003 MSU community services graduate, has spent six months in Treasure Beach, Jamaica, working with a women’s group to develop a youth group in the community center and teaching life skills to high school students.

“When I was at MSU I learned the dynamics of various cultural groups, which helped me with my communications skills and taught me to step back and accept these cultural differences,” Love said.

“Being in the Peace Corps for the last six months has given me an opportunity to live and work with many Jamaican families, which has led to positive changes and social progression so that their children can have a better life.”

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

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

Although it is not a requirement for service, the majority of volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since its founding have been college graduates.

Currently, 95 percent of volunteers have at least one undergraduate degree, with 11 percent of those also possessing a graduate-level degree.

To view the entire “Peace Corps Top Colleges 2007" list, visit the Peace Corps Web site at www.peacecorps.gov/news/resources/stats/pdf/schools2008.pdf.

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

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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.