PEACE CORPS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY: A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

58Volunteers are college graduates with degrees in liberal arts such as history,political science, English, social studies, or psychology. Others have degrees inphotography, theater, and other fine arts. 111A college degree is the most sure-fire way to get into the Peace Corps without on-the-jobexperience. Since its inception, the Peace Corps has been committed to sending educatedAmericans abroad. However, they have begun to diversify their volunteer base bydirecting information toward non-degree holding applicants.Changing Educational RequirementsTo include volunteers with associates degrees or years of skilled experience, thePeace Corps has changed its educational requirements. One problem the Peace Corpsfaces is the common perception that they do not accept non-degree holding applicants.Therefore, many potential volunteers do not consider themselves candidates for servicebecause they lack a Bachelor’s degree. The Peace Corps recently began a recruitmentcampaign geared toward community college students to find people who had not thoughtof volunteering but who had relevant work experience. The Peace Corps has targetedcommunity college students who are working and going to school simultaneously or arenon-traditional students with skilled work experience.The Peace Corps web site, in an appeal to community college students states,“[y]our combination of education, willingness to learn, work and/or volunteer experience. . . can set the course for a career-enhancing adventure in the Peace Corps, enablingyou to put your degree and experience to work in gratifying ways and opening newworlds of opportunity in the future.” 112The most interesting part of this recruitment