UCSC Recognized as a Top University for the Peace Corps

UC Santa Cruz is tied for fifth place among California universities and in the top 20 nationally for the most Peace Corps volunteers in 2013. Read more here.

Winter 2013 Events

Thursday, February 7th, 7-8pm—Info Session, Louden Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Wednesday, February 13th, 7-8:30pm—Service Panel with City Year, UCSC Career Center.

Thursday, March 7th, 6-8pm—Application Workshop: Tips for Success, UCSC Career Center

Wednesday, April 17th, 6:30-8pm—Panel  Discussion: Stories from Returned Volunteers, UCSC Career Center

Thursday, May 16th, 6:30-8pm—Calling All Juniors: Application Workshop, UCSC Career Center

The Santa Cruz Peace Corps Representative will hold office hours every Wednesday (with the exception of career fair days, holidays, and Jan 16th, Feb 21, April 4 and April 18) at the UCSC Career Center from 12 – 3 p.m. Also available to meet by appointment anytime. Please email Bhoj Rai at  brai@peacecorps.gov or call 207-6745 to reserve a time. Check us out on Facebook at Peace Corps at UC Santa Cruz.

Press Releases

UC Santa Cruz Joins Ranks of Top Large Universities For Peace Corps - City of Santa Cruz Proclaims March 1-7 as Peace Corps Week

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 5, 2010 - With 47 alumni in service, UC Santa Cruz ranks No. 21 on the annual list of "Peace Corps Top Colleges and Universities," released this week.

In 2009, the campus ranked No. 2 among mid-size universities, but due to increased enrollment, UC Santa Cruz debuts this year in the large university category (more than 15,000 undergrads). The campus maintains a rank despite being the smallest school in its category, with an enrollment of 15,125.

"We are proud that Banana Slugs entered our large school category this year and still came out among the top in the nation," said Janet Allen, manager of the Peace Corps San Francisco Recruitment Office.

"Santa Cruz students come to us highly qualified and passionate about serving others around the world," she added.

UCSC currently has alumni serving in 30 of the 76 countries where Peace Corps works. The highest concentration of Banana Slugs is in Paraguay, Zambia, Niger and Panama.

This year's top-ranked schools (in the large, medium and small categories) are the University of Washington, George Washington University, and St. Olaf College. Historically, the University of California, Berkeley maintains the number one all-time rank, with 3,412 alumni who have served. You can view the entire top 25 rankings for each school size category online.


UCSC Alumnus to Receive Peace Corps Week Proclamation for Santa Cruz

Martin Case, UCSC Class of 2008, will soon join the Banana Slug tradition of service. Case departs June 1 to train for a two-year assignment in Cameroon. He will work in small business development.

Case says he is drawn to the Peace Corps to for a "grasp of the bigger picture of world economics through hands on experience." An active member of his community, Case sang opera at UCSC and volunteers at Santa Cruz's Homeless Garden Project and the Resource Center for Non-violence.

Since Peace Corps' inception in 1961, 665 UCSC alumni have served, placing UCSC 61st among all universities for number of Peace Corps Volunteers.

There are now 52 alumni serving in 31 countries:  Armenia, Benin, Bulgaria, Cameroon, China, The Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Malawi, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Tanzania, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Vanuatu and Zambia.

They work in every Peace Corps sector:
14 - Education, 14 - Environment, 14 - Health & HIV/AIDS, 5 - Agriculture, 3 - Business Development, 1 - Youth Development, 1 - Other

To learn more about the Peace Corps visit:
Peace Corps national website
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers website
Article: UCSC alumni rank 2nd in Peace Corps involvement
Article: Peace Corps a Valuable Program

To set up a recruitment appointment or to learn more about volunteering for the Peace Corps, contact:

Bhoj Rai
UC Santa Cruz Peace Corps Representative
510.452.8453 or brai@peacecorps.gov