The Peace Corps has announced a large expansion to MU’s Paul D. Coverdell Fellows program.
The program offers financial assistance to returning Peace Corps volunteers and places them in professional internships in underserved American communities.
Approximately 30 MU alumni are currently serving in the Peace Corps.
Former Peace Corps volunteer Sarah Parsons was part of the fellowship at MU and received a master’s degree in public affairs, specializing in public policy. Parson said she thinks the program has had a positive impact on her education.
“I am extremely grateful for this opportunity,” Parsons said. “This fellowship is providing me with financial support to earn my MPA, plus I am gaining community service experience with Heart of Missouri United Way.”
MU previously offered the returning volunteers graduate degrees in agricultural economics, geography, social work, political science, rural sociology and public affairs. Through the expansion, the Fellows Program will offer master’s degrees in all 96 master programs.
Due to the expansion, the number of prospective students interested has increased.
“We are currently going through the nomination process now,” Peace Corps Fellows Program Coordinator Meredith Dorneker said. “We have received a lot of interested students, at least double the interest from previous years.”
Dorneker said the Peace Corps is a great experience and hopes this expansion on the program will encourage more people to take part and volunteer.
In order to be part of the Fellows Program, students must go through a nomination process. Prospective students must first apply to their respective master programs and be accepted before the department can nominate them.
Christine Torres, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Regional Peace Corps, said MU has been a part of the Peace Corps Fellows program since 2006. Through the updated program, volunteers will receive a full-tuition waiver, stipend of at least $24,000 to cover living expenses and health insurance coverage over the two-year graduate program period.
The Coverdell Fellows Program works with more than 60 universities in 30 states across the nation. Volunteers who complete Peace Corps service are eligible for the Fellows Program for life. Since the start of the program in 1985, nearly 4,000 returned Peace Corps volunteers have gone through and completed the program.
The Peace Corps also has an on-campus Peace Corps office at the Career Center for students and anyone in the Columbia community who is interested in the international Peace Corps service.
“I can already see the increase in interest,” Dorneker said. “I just hope it continues. Peace Corps is such an experience of a lifetime I hope this expansion continues to draw more prospective students in, rather than turn them away like in the past with our no longer limited degree programs.”