CSU ranks among Peace Corps’ top volunteer-producing schools

FORT COLLINS – Colorado State University has ranked 11th nationally for the Peace Corps’ top volunteer-producing colleges and universities, according to 20-year statistics released this week by the agency.

Additionally, the Peace Corps said, Colorado ranked 13th among all U.S. states and territories with the highest number of volunteers since President John F. Kennedy established the organization in 1961.

“Demand for Peace Corps volunteers is high given setbacks in development progress following the COVID-19 pandemic” said Peace Corps director Carol Spahn in a prepared statement. “Peace Corps service is the beginning of a lifetime of global connection and purpose for those bold enough to accept the invitation.”

In the 62 years since its founding, more than 240,000 Americans have served in 142 countries worldwide for the Peace Corps.

In March 2020, the corps suspended global operations and evacuated nearly 7,000 volunteers from more than 60 countries at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The evacuation included 40 CSU alumni.

The agency is recruiting volunteers to serve in 59 countries at the invitation of host country governments to connect through the Peace Corps’ grassroots approach across communities and cultures. More than 1,400 volunteers have returned to a total of 53 countries around the world, including six CSU alumni, who were among the first wave of Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service.

CSU held a groundbreaking ceremony in March for a roughly 1,000-square-foot Peace Corps Tribute Garden to honor the school’s history of volunteering. The garden is expected to be completed by fall west of the Lory Student Center Theater.

Sage Miller, a CSU alum, was inspired by her parents by teaching her about the importance of serving others.

“As a student at CSU, I joined Alpha Phi Omega, a service-oriented fraternity on campus, and I think that helped to reinforce this idea that serving and helping others is one of the most important things we can do,” said Miller.

Volunteers from Colorado are among those Americans who have served around the world in areas such as agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health and youth development volunteers. More than 7,678 Coloradans have served in the Peace Corps, and more than 1,778 CSU alumni have served abroad as Peace Corps volunteers since the agency’s founding.The Peace Corps continues to monitor COVID-19 trends in all its host countries and will send volunteers to serve as conditions permit. Americans interested in transformative service and lifelong connections should apply to Peace Corps service at www.peacecorps.gov/apply.

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