The Peace Corps has announced that Bowdoin College ranked No. 14 among small schools on the agency’s 2016 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges and Universities list. Currently, there are nine Bowdoin alumni volunteering worldwide.

“This is also a stellar year for seniors and recent alums applying to and accepting Peace Corps offers,” said Meg Springer, herself a former Peace Corps volunteer who served in Thailand. As assistant director of Bowdoin Career Planning, Springer now helps Bowdoin students plan their own Peace Corps experiences.

“In the coming year, Bowdoin grads will be heading to Ghana, Tanzania, Lesotho and Peru, to name a few, and currently I know of alums in Morocco, Senegal and Cameroon. As a returned Peace Corps Volunteer myself, it’s so inspiring to see members of the Bowdoin community continuing to serve the common good on a global level beyond their Bowdoin experience.”

“The Peace Corps is a unique opportunity for college graduates to put their education into practice and become agents of change in communities around the world,” Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet said.

“Today’s graduates understand the importance of intercultural understanding and are raising their hands in record numbers to take on the challenge of international service.”

Alumni from more than 3,000 colleges and universities nationwide have served in the Peace Corps since the agency’s founding in 1961, including 267 alumni from Bowdoin College.

This year’s rankings follow a 40-year high in applications for the Peace Corps in 2015. View the complete 2016 rankings of the top 25 schools in each undergraduate category here.