The commitment of Grinnell’s graduates to lives of continued inquiry and service testifies to the enduring value of a Grinnell education. While no summary could begin to capture the variety of career paths and accomplishments of Grinnell’s alumni, numbers help to tell part of the story. Thirty percent of Grinnell alumni go directly to graduate or professional schools, and more than half eventually earn an advanced degree. Grinnell ranks 10th among all U.S. colleges and universities, adjusted for size, as the undergraduate source of future Ph.D.s. Grinnell’s students have received an impressive share of prestigious scholarships: between 2003 and 2008 Grinnell graduates won 32 Fulbrights, 17 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, eight Watsons, and three Trumans. In 2002, Grinnell’s 14th Rhodes Scholar was named.

Consistent with Grinnell’s commitment to social responsibility, a high percentage of Grinnell graduates join the Peace Corps, Teach for America, Grinnell Corps, and other public service pursuits. More than 300 Grinnell alumni have served in the Peace Corps since it was founded in 1961, and for the past seven years Grinnell has ranked in the top dozen colleges with fewer than 5,000 students in the number of graduates who join the Peace Corps, sending on average 20 per year since 2003. Grinnell is consistently one of the top small college sources of volunteers for Teach for America, attracting about 10 students per year. The Office of Social Commitment administers the College’s own post-graduate service fellowship program, Grinnell Corps, which selects about 10 graduates each year to serve as full-time teaching or service fellows, primarily abroad (i.e., Lesotho, Namibia, Nanjing, Macau).