Archive - July 3, 2014

Applications for the traditional Peace Corps, twenty-seven month tour, have been declining. This is happening at the same time that Peace Corps is undergoing a major reorganization. Peace Corps Response, the program of short-term assignments, is now open to qualified applicants who are not Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and appears to be attracting many applicants. Also, in addition to the graduate degree programs Universities are offering to RPCVs, Peace Corps is now in partnership with universities who are combining Peace Corps service with ongoing degree programs.So the questions may be: Are applicants choosing these new programs rather than the traditional programs? I don’t have the answer. But I will share some data on applications for the traditional program and Peace Corps Response that I obtained through Freedom of Information request (FOIA 14-213), as well as information in the Peace Corps Accountability Report of 2013. http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/policies/annrept2013.pdf The numbers for comparison will be . . .