Four Women’s Colleges Among the Top Producers of Peace Corps Volunteers

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 Wisconsin held the top spot this year with 87 graduates working in the Peace Corps. The University of Washington, which held the top spot last year, was ranked second and the University of Minnesota held third place. Since the inauguration of the Peace Corps in 1961, the University of California, Berkeley has sent 3,640 graduates to the Peace Corps, the most of any college or university.

In the Small Colleges and Universities category, for schools with less than 5,000 undergraduates, four women’s colleges made the list of the top producers of Peace Corps volunteers. Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and Spelman College in Atlanta ranked in a tie for seventh place on the small colleges list with 11 alumnae currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers. Simmons College in Boston and Wellesley College in suburban Boston had 10 graduates serving in the Peace Corps.