Check out Joanne Roll’s blog:Applications to the Peace Corps are down
The Global Health peace corps response Volunteers do get $30,000 For their one year of service,The money was raised from…
Applications to the Peace Corps are down
Posted by Joanne Roll on Thursday, February 13th 2014
This information is copied from the 2013 Peace Corps Annual Performance and Accountability Report, page 21. Here is the text to link to:
http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/policies/annrept2013.pdf
“Reduction in the percentage of Volunteer positions that were filled byapplicants for service (Indicator 4.1.1.b): Over the past three years, the agency has experienced difficulties in providing the number of Volunteers that have been requested by overseas posts. The number of Volunteers requested by a post represents the number of funded Volunteer positions that the post can fully support for 27 months of service. When Volunteer requests are not fully met, it represents a missed opportunity for the communities expecting Volunteers and for the talented and motivated Americans who could have served as Volunteers. The primary challenge in providing skilled Volunteers at the levels requested by posts is the decrease in the number of applications for Peace Corps service over the last few years-from a high of 15,386 applications received in FY 2009 to 10,091 applications in FY 2012 and 10,118 applications in FY 2013.
Significant process changes in FY 2013 related to the implementation of a new electronic applicant processing system also contributed to poor performance on this indicator this year. Improving Volunteer recruitment and selection processes to better meet the skill needs of host countries is a critical priority for the agency. Major process and structural changes are currently underway, including reducing the length of the Volunteer application, expediting the application process, providing applicants with more transparency and choice regarding their potential Volunteer assignment, and other reforms to improve the application experience.”
To see a month by month count of Peace Corps Applications from 2007 to present, here is the text to link to:
Applications by number and month 2007 – present
The easiest way to increase applications is to offer student loan forgiveness for service.
The military and Public Health Service offer full ride scholarships for needed specialities and, in return, the recipient has a service obligation upon graduation. I don’t know why Peace Corps has not created the same type of program.
Obama campaigned on student loan forgiveness for service and I believe it does apply to teachers in certain geographic regions and Vista. To my knowledge, it has not been offered to PC volunteers. The idea is simply – complete 2 years of service and receive loan forgiveness for X dollars. Since the average student debt is about $30,000, maybe that is a good amount.
The Global Health peace corps response Volunteers do get $30,000
For their one year of service,The money was raised from private sources. These Volunteers are medically trained professionals and the money is to be used to offset their educational loans or for other expenses to help offset their service. However, this does establish a two tier Peac Corps.