Through informational sessions and meeting with students, the Peace Corps continues offering an alternative postgraduate option to MU students.
 
The Peace Corps is an independent U.S. government agency, as well as the national volunteer program that provides volunteer assistance for more than 70 countries around the world, according to its website.
 
MU Campus Peace Corps recruiter Mike Burden said the program normally takes 30 students each year. During the past 50 years, more than 900 MU graduates have volunteered through the Peace Corps.
 
“The values of MU — respect, responsibility, discovery and excellence — are similar to the core value of Peace Corps,” Burden said.
 
Burden said 25 MU faculty members have participated in the Peace Corps. Chancellor Brady Deaton served in Thailand from 1962 to 1964, when he was a sophomore in college.
 
Burden said students who have an undergraduate degree are more competitive, but prior to applying, Deaton had many years of experience in farming.
 
Sophomore Kimberly Pearcy said she has been researching about the Peace Corps since high school.
 
“I think this will give me more perspective,” Pearcy said. “Coming from a small town in the Midwest, I don’t think I can get as many as experiences that I would go across the world and live with the whole different culture.”
 
Senior Lindsay D’Amato, who will graduate in May 2011, is applying for the Peace Corps.
 
An eligible Peace Corps applicant must be a U.S. citizen and at least 18 years old.

Teach For America, which is a non-profit organization that aims to eliminate educational inequity in the U.S., also provides alternative postgraduate option to MU students. 

Last year, 28 MU graduates were accepted to the program as Teach For America corps members, said Jefferson Baum, MU Teach For America’s recruitment director.

Baum said the biggest appeal of Teach For America is that it is life changing, and Teach For America’s teachers don’t only make impacts on students but also on their own.

“Having a strong leader in class is life changing,” he said. “You are not only part of a job.”

Baum said education in the U.S. is not always accessible. This year, the program has a higher demand. For example, the Kansas City School District has asked for more teachers, he said.

Teach For America is looking for students who have leadership skills and high achievement.

“Strong leaders set goals,” Baum said. “And this is also what teachers do.”

For those who are interested in the program, Baum said Teach For America’s website is a huge resource.

“Shoot me an email,” he said. “I am available as resource here on campus.”

This year’s application process is still underway, and Baum said the final decision should be made no later than April 14.