Six University of California campuses are among the 25 colleges that produced the most undergraduate alumni to volunteer for the Peace Corps during 2011.

UCLA, with 96 volunteers, was sixth among the Peace Corps rankings of large colleges with 15,000 or more students and was tops among UC campuses.

Five other UC campuses made the Peace Corps Top 25 list of volunteer producers:

• UC Berkeley ranked ninth with 84
• UC San Diego ranked 11th with 78
• UC Santa Barbara tied for 16th with 70
• UC Davis ranked 23rd with 63
• UC Santa Cruz ranked 24th with 61

"The Peace Corps gave me the opportunity to pursue my passion for working with vulnerable populations," said volunteer Chelsea Tibbs, a UC San Diego alumna. "I wanted to become a volunteer because I have always been driven to serve my community — I don't limit my community to be geographically and culturally close."


The University of Colorado, Boulder, had the most alumni volunteers in 2011 among large colleges with 112. Leading medium-size colleges (5,001–15,000 undergraduates) was George Washington University with 78; the University of Mary Washington topped small colleges with 29. The University of Florida had the most graduate alumni volunteers with 30.

UC Berkeley leads all universities with 3,497 volunteers since the Peace Corps was founded in 1961 with a mission to promote peace, friendship and a better understanding between Americans and people of other countries.

"Colleges and universities prepare thousands of talented undergraduate and graduate alumni for Peace Corps service every year," said Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams. "These alumni go on to serve as Peace Corps volunteers, applying the skills and knowledge they acquired during their studies to promote world peace and friendship and improve the lives of people around the world."