The Peace Corps announced its updated rankings of top volunteer-producing colleges and universities, and the University of Arizona secured the No. 20 spot in 2017 among large schools with more than 15,000 undergraduates.

The UA also is ranked No. 15 among all-time top volunteer-producing schools, with 1,636 alumni traveling abroad to serve as volunteers. Alumni from more than 3,000 colleges and universities nationwide have served in the Peace Corps since the agency’s founding in 1961.

“We are delighted to see so many UA alumni serving in U.S. Peace Corps,” said Andrew Carnie, dean of the UA Graduate College and professor of linguistics. “The University of Arizona is a land-grant institution with a 100 percent engagement philosophy. We know of 77 UA faculty and staff who served in the U.S. Peace Corps who are role models for action-oriented research and community-based work. The UA Peace Corps Coverdell Fellows program has brought 356 returned volunteers to campus since 2000. These returned volunteers continue to excel academically and provide service to our community.”

Currently, there are 43 Wildcats volunteering worldwide with the Peace Corps.

“Peace Corps service is a profound expression of the idealism and civic engagement that colleges and universities across the country inspire in their alumni,” said Sheila Crowley, acting Peace Corps national director.

UA alumnus Samuel Morris serves as a Peace Corps education volunteer in Armenia. His primary assignment is teaching English and organizing conversation clubs at two schools in his community. He also writes curriculum for a national initiative that teaches environmental science to children across Armenia.

Morris said his experience at the UA helped strengthen his desire to volunteer.

“The University of Arizona instills in its students a sense of community that stays with us long after we graduate,” Morris said. “Students at the UA are strongly encouraged to get involved in and help the Tucson community through community service. Alumni leave with a continued desire to strengthen whatever community they happen to find themselves in. Simply put, Wildcat spirit and our ability to Bear Down make us amazing Peace Corps volunteers and citizens of the world.”

The Peace Corps ranks its top volunteer-producing colleges and universities annually according to the size of the student body. Rankings are calculated based on fiscal 2017 data as of Sept. 30, as self-reported by Peace Corps volunteers.