UW-Madison slips to No. 2 in Peace Corps volunteers

For the first time in more than 20 years, the University of Wisconsin–Madison is not the top-producing institution for Peace Corps volunteers.

UW–Madison, which had 106 alumni serve in the program last year, narrowly lost the top position to the University of Washington, with 110 alumni participants. Despite slipping in the rankings this year, UW–Madison still holds the No. 2 ranking overall, with 2,764 alumni serving since 1961, just behind the University of California-Berkeley.

Additionally, the participant numbers from both the University of Wisconsin and the University of Washington were up from last year.

“Hats off to the University of Washington and the UW,” says Ken Shapiro, Associate Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the college that oversees the Peace Corps program at UW–Madison. “We are so pleased that young people are still volunteering for the Peace Corps in increasing numbers, and we anticipate continued interest in the Peace Corps program by Wisconsin students in the future.”

The Peace Corps enables volunteers, many of whom are alumni from the United States’ top educational institutions, to work in fields like HIV/AIDS education and prevention, information technology, business development, agriculture and environmental preservation in one of 72 different countries around the world.

The volunteers make a 27-month commitment, spending three months in training and two years in a developing country, aiding citizens of that country in building a better life for themselves and their communities.