The No. 3 slot is MSUs highest to date, although the university has remained on the Peace Corps Top Colleges and Universities list since the start of the ranking system in 2001. Last year, MSU and the University of Michigan tied for the No. 5 spot, with both institutions producing 80 volunteers.

First on the list of the top 25 large schools producing volunteers is the University of Washington, followed by the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Since Peace Corps inception in 1961, 2,151 MSU alumni have served in the Peace Corps, making MSU the No. 6 all-time producer of volunteers. The strong participation by MSU students in community service programs, combined with MSUs historical mission as a land grant university, have helped many students develop the knowledge base and life experience to be competitive Peace Corps applicants and effective volunteers, said Jeff Riedinger, dean of International Studies and Programs. The Peace Corps is a great opportunity for the future generation of leaders to gain global experience and understanding, which are more important now than ever before. MSU alumna Kirstin Webster, of Grand Rapids, agrees.

The Peace Corps was an opportunity to learn about myself and the world while doing something respectable, Webster said. And now, I look at the world and at people very differently.

Webster received her bachelors degree in interdisciplinary studies from MSU in 2005. Following graduation, Webster served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Romania, where she taught English to third- through eighth-graders. And she also counseled adolescents there on AIDS prevention.

Webster said her MSU education prepared her well.

Since MSU has such a diverse student body, I learned to respect and appreciate other cultures, Webster said.