FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, April 5, 1999

Peace Corps Among Top Recruiters of College Grads; Agency Ranked Fourth by The Black Collegian

Washington, D.C., April 5, 1999—The Peace Corps ranks fourth in the nation in recruiting college graduates for 1999, according to an annual survey by the magazine The Black Collegian. The agency has consistently ranked among the top four recruiters of college graduates for the past seven years.
"The Peace Corps offers graduating students a wide range of opportunities to make a difference around the world," said Peace Corps Director Mark Gearan. "Our volunteer assignments are among the most rewarding, and it is tremendously heartening to find so many college graduates opting for Peace Corps service." Gearan noted that a proposed increase in the Peace Corps budget over the next four years would boost the number of volunteers from 6,700 today to more than 10,000 in the year 2003, the highest level since the late 1960s. The Black Collegian survey was mailed to hundreds of employers nationwide in business and government. In its second semester Super 1999 issue, the magazine lists the top 100 employers for all college graduates. Peace Corps ranks fourth with 3,866 job opportunities available for 1999. Topping the list is Enterprise Rent-A-Car, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Arthur Andersen. In the number five slot is Teach For America. The Peace Corps, now in its 38th year, was founded by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Currently, nearly 6,700 Peace Corps volunteers are working in 80 countries to bring clean water to communities, teach children, protect the environment, help start new businesses, and prevent the spread of AIDS. Since 1961, more than 152,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps. For more information about the Peace Corps, or to request an application, call 1-800-424-8580, or visit the Peace Corps\' World Wide Web site at www.peacecorps.gov.

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