The University of Vermont (UVM) has become an official Peace Corps Prep institution, the university announced Monday.
That status means that undergraduates can now prepare for Peace Corps service.
The University of Vermont recently ranked No. 7 among top volunteer-producing colleges and universities across the country, with 25 alumni serving worldwide. Since the agency’s founding in 1961, 857 UVM alumni have served in the Peace Corps, according to a news release.
“We are so pleased to have been selected as a Peace Corps Prep program for undergraduate students,” said Jane Kolodinsky, chair of the Community Development and Applied Economics (CDAE) Department at UVM who spearheaded the application process.
According to the Peace Corps’ website, “A typical Peace Corps Prep Program consists of two years of coursework with a focus on international development, internship or volunteer experience related to Peace Corps’ project area, and foreign language study.”
At UVM, Kolodinsky said, undergraduates will be able to “prepare for the Peace Corps through the Peace Corps Prep program, the Peace Corps recruiter [housed in CDAE] can aid these students in the Peace Corps application process, and returned Peace Corps volunteers can earn an M.S. in Community Development and Applied Economics or a Master of Public Administration through the Paul D. Coverdell graduate fellows program.”
The Peace Corps Prep program at UVM will give students the opportunity to learn through classroom work and service in the community.
UVM plans to offer all six of the Peace Corps Prep fields available: education, health, environment, agriculture, youth in development and community economic development.
To complete the program, students choose three college courses in their preferred sector and dedicate at least 50 hours of work or volunteer experience related to the same sector.
UVM will be joining approximately 30 other colleges and universities in the U.S. that have been accepted as Peace Corps Prep programs, the UVM announcement said.
Vermont is also the top Peace Corps volunteer-producing state in the nation on a per capita basis, the UVM news release said. Forty-nine Vermonters are now serving in the Peace Corps.
In 2014, the Burlington-South Burlington metro area also ranked No. 3 nationally for per-capita production of Peace Corps volunteers, with 15 area residents serving overseas, according to UVM.
Enrollment in the Peace Corps Prep program at UVM is open immediately and first-year through senior students from any major or academic program are eligible.
For more information, email pcprep@uvm.edu.
Read the story on VTDigger here: UVM to offer Peace Corps prep program.