“For more than half a decade, the CSU has been graduating students who are informed, active and dedicated leaders,” said Lori A. Redfearn, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Systemwide Advancement at the CSU Chancellor’s Office. “We are proud to be recognized as institutions that infuse diverse, service-minded graduates into the local and global community.”
Through its 50-plus year partnership with the Peace Corps, the CSU has contributed 9,660 volunteers from all 23 campuses. The CSU has also been instrumental in helping shape the Peace Corps organization and its approach to higher education by serving as a key partner in the Master's International and Coverdell Fellows programs. Both programs combine traditional graduate studies with Peace Corps Service, giving students and alumni the opportunity to integrate their teaching and research with Peace Corps service. Currently six campuses—Chico, Fresno, Humboldt, Long Beach, Northridge and Sacramento—serve as partner schools and offer a variety of master’s degree programs.
The state produces more Peace Corps volunteers than any other state nationwide. More than 29,400 California residents have served overseas as Peace Corps volunteers and 926 residents are currently serving.
Peace Corps sends Americans abroad to develop sustainable solutions that address the most pressing needs of people around the world. Over the last year, the agency has expanded its reach to attract volunteers that reflect the rich diversity of the American people.
Peace Corps’ 2015 top volunteer-producing Hispanic-Serving Institutions are:
University of California, Santa Cruz (42 currently serving volunteers)
University of California, Santa Barbara (38 currently serving volunteers)
University of New Mexico (29 currently serving volunteers)
California State University, Long Beach (26 currently serving volunteers)
Humboldt State University (25 currently serving volunteers)
San Diego State University (25 currently serving volunteers)
University of California, Riverside (23 currently serving volunteers)
Florida International University (16 currently serving volunteers)
California State University, Fullerton (16 currently serving volunteers)
California State University, Chico (15 currently serving volunteers)
In addition to being lauded by the Peace Corps, eleven CSUs were recently honoredwith the Carnegie Foundation’s 2015 Community Engagement Classification and fifteen CSUs were also named in December to the 2014 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The CSU is committed to providing a high-quality education that marries high-impact practices and service-learning to enhance student success. In 2013-14, more than 61,000 students had the opportunity to participate in 3,006 service-learning courses across the system. Today, more than half of the CSU’s 460,000 students are engaged in some type of community service, totaling 32 million hours of service annually.
For a listing of the 2015 top HSIs for Peace Corps volunteers: http://www.peacecorps.gov/media/forpress/press/2559/