Clark University is number 23 on the Peace Corps’ 2016 rankings of the top volunteer-producing colleges and universities. Clark is ranked on the list of small colleges and universities, with 8 alumni currently volunteering worldwide.

Since 1961, 255 Clark alumni have served in the Peace Corps; this is the second straight year that the University has ranked among the Peace Corps’ top 25 small schools. A complete rankings list is available online.

“Clark students come to campus with an interest in making the world a better place, and spend their time on a campus full of faculty engaged with contemporary issues like climate change and global development,” says Ed Carr, director of the International Development, Community and Environment Department at Clark. “It is of no surprise that they would be among the most engaged with these global challenges after graduation.”

This year’s rankings follow a 40-year high in applications for the Peace Corps in 2015. Alumni from more than 3,000 colleges and universities nationwide have served in the Corps since the agency’s founding in 1961.

Clark University’s IDCE Department and the Graduate School of Management (GSOM) have partnered with the Paul D. Coverdell Fellows program. Through IDCE and GSOM, returned Peace Corps volunteers can work toward various degrees, including an MBA with several concentrations, including social change. Participating Fellows receive at least a 50 percent reduction in tuition with the possibility for further merit aid.