For the past decade, the Peace Corps has released an annual ranking of the top large, medium and small schools that graduate students who then serve overseas for a little more than two years. The organization, an independent U.S. government agency that has been around for more than 50 years, has more than 8,000 volunteers in more than 75 countries.
This year, the top schools in each category were in Washington state: the University of Washington on the large-schools list with 107 graduates-turned-volunteers, Western Washington University on the medium-schools list with 73 volunteers, and Gonzaga University in Spokane on the small-schools list with 24.
It’s the first time that one state has swept all three categories, said Carrie Hessler-Radelet, acting director of the Peace Corps. “It just seems to be the kind of state that’s very progressive and shares some of the same values as the Peace Corps,” said Hessler-Radelet, who volunteered in Western Samoa in the early 1980s and is part of a family in which four generations have participated.
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