peace corps

forfamily and friends

Benefits
The Peace Corps is a challenging opportunity offering Americans of every
background enormous rewards. Should your family member become a
Peace Corps Volunteer, you will be proud of his or her time spent helping
others. But for all the giving they do, it’s important to know that Peace
Corps Volunteers are also opening worlds of opportunity for themselves.

Serving in the Peace Corps gives Volunteers the chance to learn a new language,
live in another culture, and develop career and leadership skills. The Peace Corps
experience can enhance long-term career prospects, whether a Volunteer wants to
work for a corporation, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The
Peace Corps can even open doors to graduate school.

For your son, daughter, sister, brother, or parent to venture to a far-away place for
two years where they don’t know anyone can be a cause for concern. Some
people, who may have worked hard to get a child through college or struggled to
bring children to the United States in search of economic opportunity, may feel
disappointed when a son or daughter does not take a high-paying job right after
graduation. Others might think that Americans should help improve the quality of
life in their own community here at home.

The following information will help you learn more about the professional,
educational, and financial benefits of service that await someone as a Peace Corps
Volunteer.

Professional
The benefits of Peace Corps service last a lifetime, but you will start noticing them as soon
as a Peace Corps Volunteer returns home. In today’s global marketplace, fluency in foreign
languages, international experience, and cross-cultural understanding are highly sought-
after assets in many sectors of our increasingly global economy. The first three months of
service in the Peace Corps provide cross-cultural, technical, and language training to help
Volunteers integrate into their new overseas communities.

In addition:
The Peace Corps’ Office of Returned Volunteer Services (RVS) provides
career, educational, and re-entry related assistance through its 11 regional
recruiting offices and its Career Center in Washington, DC.
Returned Volunteers have non-competitive eligibility status for
appointments to U.S. government executive branch agencies for one year
after their completion of service. This means that you can be appointed to
some federal government positions without competing with the general
public.
Once you arrive in your country of service, you will receive intensive
language instruction. Some Volunteers become fluent in more than one
language.

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Volunteers develop the ability to adapt to, and participate successfully in,
the culture of the community in which they live and work. These skills are
transferable to any culture as well as to new professional and social
settings back home.

Educational
The Peace Corps offers two innovative programs to Peace Corps Volunteers: Masters
International and Fellows/USA.

The Master’s International Program allows you to incorporate Peace Corps

service into master’s degree programs at more than 40 colleges and
universities.
The Fellows/USA Program offers Volunteers who have returned home
scholarships or reduced tuition in advanced degree programs at more than
25 participating colleges and universities. In return for these educational
benefits, Fellows commit to work for two years in an underserved
community as they pursue their graduate degree.

Additionally, Peace Corps Volunteers may apply for partial deferment of many loans and
up to 15% cancellation of Perkins loans.

Financial
Among other financial benefits, the Peace Corps offers:

A monthly living allowance to cover your housing and other basic needs
Comprehensive medical and dental coverage, including annual exams and
coverage for both service and non-service-related illnesses or injuries
$6,075 after the completion of three months of training and two years of
Volunteer service
A reasonably priced health insurance plan available after the completion of
Volunteer service for up to 18 months
24 vacation days per year

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