The University of Michigan and Michigan Technological University have earned high rankings for student participation in the Peace Corps.
John F. Kennedy delivers the speech that launched the Peace Corps on the steps of the Michigan Union on Oct. 14, 1960.
For the eighth consecutive year, Michigan Tech ranks No. 1 nationally in the corps' Master International program, which allows students to use Peace Corps service as credit toward earning a graduate degree. Tech presently has 35 Master's International grad students.
More than 120 graduates have earned degrees through the program since Michigan Tech began participating in 1995. The university in Houghton has eight graduate programs affiliated with the Peace Corps, more than any other institution.
U-M, where the idea for the Peace Corps was first announced, also ranks high perennially in the number of graduates serving as volunteers in the Peace Corps.
This year 93 U-M graduates are serving as Peace Corps volunteers, the organization said it February, making the school the fourth largest producer of corp volunteers. Last year it was No. 5, according to the Peace Corps.
In an Oct. 14, 1960, speech outside the Michigan Union in Ann Arbor, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy challenged students to volunteer two years of their lives to help people in developing countries. In March 1961, shortly after assuming office, he signed the executive order creating the Peace Corps.