EAST LANSING, Mich. -- With 86 undergraduate Michigan State University alumni serving in the Peace Corps in 2009, MSU is the top volunteer-producing institution in Michigan, according to 2010 Peace Corps rankings. MSU ranks No. 4 overall among the nation's large colleges and universities. The university has remained on the Peace Corps' Top Colleges and Universities list since the start of the ranking system in 2001. First on the list of the top 25 large schools producing volunteers is the University of Washington, followed by the University of Colorado -Boulder.

"At Michigan State our undergraduates are part of a community that values service learning, civic responsibility and global understanding," said Jeffrey Riedinger, dean of International Studies and Programs. "Along with a strong desire to contribute to a more peaceful, just and sustainable world , many students find that service in the Peace Corps is a natural extension to their education."

Since Peace Corps' inception in 1961, more than 2,185 MSU alumni have served in the Peace Corps, making it the No. 6 all-time producer of Peace Corps volunteers.

"It was shocking to me, the amount of personal growth I experienced as a Peace Corps volunteer," said Jacob Slusser, an MSU alum who returned from a Peace Corps assignment in 2008.

'From the perspective of a recent MSU graduate beginning my Peace Corps service, I felt that my learning was over and that now was the time to put my education into action," he said. "Little did I know that the rural farmers, whom I was sent to assist, would instill knowledge unattainable in an institutional setting. As a result I was inspired to elucidate my personal and professional endeavors."

Jacob Slusser, received his bachelor's degree in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy from MSU's James Madison College in 2004. Slusser served as a Peace Corps volunteer for three years where he worked with rural farmers in the small village of El Limon, in the Republic of Panama.

The Peace Corps ranks schools according to undergraduate student body size. Small schools are those with fewer than 5,000 undergraduates; medium schools have between 5,001 and 15,000 undergraduates; and large schools have more than 15,000 undergraduates. The 2010 data rank graduate student alumni separately.

MSU offers a master's international program in the areas of agricultural economics; crop and soil sciences; and community, agriculture, recreation and resource study. The program - which started in 2006 and is offered at only a handful of universities - allows students to combine Peace Corps service with graduate studies for credit. Currently, there are 7,671 Peace Corps volunteers serving in 76 host countries around the world. A college degree is not mandatory for service. But relevant experience in areas such as education, health, business, IT, environment and agriculture is required.

In 2009, the Peace Corps received more than 15,000 applications, an 18 percent increase from 2008. It is the largest number of applications since the agency began electronically recording applications in 1998.

MSU has two graduate student Peace Corps recruiters on campus. The MSU Peace Corps Recruiting Office is administered by the Center for Advanced Study of International Development and is located in Room 202 of MSU's International Center. For more information, call (517) 432-7474, e-mail msupeace@msu.edu or visit MSU Peace Corps (/ www.isp.msu.edu/peacecorps)