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What Is AmeriCorps?

AmeriCorps provides opportunities for 85,000 Americans to give back in an intensive way to their communities and country each year. It consists of three main programs: AmeriCorps State and National, whose members serve with more than 1,840 national and local nonprofit and community groups; AmeriCorps VISTA, through which members serve full time fighting poverty; and AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps), a team-based residential program for young adults 18-24 who carry out projects in public safety, the environment, youth development, and disaster relief and preparedness.

What Do AmeriCorps Members Do?

AmeriCorps members do a wide range of things: They recruit, train, and supervise community volunteers, tutor and mentor youth, build affordable housing, teach computer skills, clean parks and streams, run after-school programs, help communities respond to disasters, and build the capacity of nonprofit groups to become self-sustaining, among many other activities.

What Benefits Do AmeriCorps Members Receive?

After successfully completing a term of service, AmeriCorps members who are enrolled in the National Service Trust are eligible to receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. You can use your education award to pay education costs at qualified institutions of higher education, for educational training, or to repay qualified student loans.

> Learn more about the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award

AmeriCorps Fast Facts

  • 637,000: Number of people who have served as AmeriCorps members since 1994.  
  • 774 Million: Total number of hours served by AmeriCorps members.  
  • $1.77 Billion: Total amount of Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards earned by AmeriCorps members since 1994.  
  • 2.4 Million: Number of community volunteers managed or mobilized by AmeriCorps members in 2008.  
  • 3,300: Number of nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations served by AmeriCorps members last year.  
  • $6.3 Billion: Amount of AmeriCorps funds invested in nonprofit, community, educational, and faith-based community groups since 1994.

How Do I Join?

Go to www.americorps.gov to get started!