Emory ranks eighth in the nation among midsized schools that produced the most Peace Corps volunteers in 2002, Peace Corps director Gaddi Vasquez announced Jan. 27 in an annual listing of the top volunteer-producing schools.

Emory, with nearly 6,300 undergraduates, is smaller than all but one of the schools ranked in the Top 10 of the midsized category, and is about half the size of the top two universities in the category.

With 39 graduates currently serving in the field, Emory is ranked 32nd nationally among colleges and universities of all sizes, up 10 spots from 42nd place three years ago. For the purposes of fairly ranking the schools according to the size of the student body, small schools are those with less than 5,000 undergraduates; medium-size schools are those with 5,001 to 15,000 undergraduates; and large schools are those with more than 15,000 undergraduates.

“The Peace Corps is proud of the recruitment support it continues to receive from some of the finest institutions in the country,” Vasquez said. “The Peace Corps is grateful for the productive working relationships it has with the staff and students of each school, allowing the agency to increase its recruiting numbers each year.”

To date, Emory has had 331 graduates serve in the Peace Corps. The majority of all volunteers who have served in the past 42 years are college graduates, according to the Corps’ website. Currently, 86 percent of volunteers have an undergraduate degree, and 12 percent have graduate degrees or have studied at the graduate level.

This year’s 6,678 Peace Corps volunteers are serving in 70 different countries. Since 1961, more than 168,000 volunteers have served in the Peace Corps, working in such diverse fields as education, health and HIV/AIDS awareness and education, information technology, business development, the environment and agriculture.

Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a two-year commitment.