Keep Learning & Creating Change

Credit: Oscar Manguy

Build on Your AmeriCorps Experience

It’s time for the next step. You’ve completed your term of service, and you’re ready for a new adventure. Enter NOLS, the global leader in wilderness education.

Use your AmeriCorps education award to travel the world, explore the outdoors, and continue building your leadership skills.

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Download: Guide to AmeriCorps Matches at NOLS

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Why NOLS?

With NOLS, you can:

  • Develop your leadership skills in a dynamic environment
  • Gain global perspective & cultural awareness
  • Earn industry-respected Wilderness Medicine certifications
  • Prepare for a career in the outdoor industry, emergency response, or experiential education 

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What You Need to Know

For open-enrollment expedition courses spanning 61 days or longer, NOLS will match your education award up to $2,000.

Terms and Restrictions

  • Matches cannot be applied to Alumni, Custom Education, Risk Services, Instructor, or Wilderness Medicine courses.
  • Supplies are limited - matches are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • In addition to your AmeriCorps award, you can apply for a need-based NOLS scholarship 

Explore Featured Courses

Expeditions for Ages 23+

Get ready for a 1- to 2-week adventure where you’ll focus on learning one key outdoor skill, like whitewater rafting or backcountry skiing, with a group of adult peers. Work with a new team, and continue developing the skills you need to be an effective community leader.

Travel the World with NOLS

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Explore Our Worldwide Campuses

Learn from Communities around the World

Travel to places you’ve never been and engage with local communities. On a NOLS expedition, you might help a Chilean family with ranch chores in Patagonia, practice your conversational Hindi over a cup of chai in the Himalaya, or hike with Maasai guides in Tanzania.

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Continue to Serve

On a NOLS expedition, service might mean renovating a school building, teaching English to local students, or restoring trails. On a Wilderness Medicine course, you’ll learn how to help yourself and others in an emergency.

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NOLS Stories from AmeriCorps Members

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“AmeriCorps and NOLS both offer the opportunity to learn by doing, which creates a lasting outcome of understanding how to achieve goals in a healthy group setting. I think a NOLS course took what I learned at AmeriCorps and added another layer of experience to my understanding and practice of leadership.”

—Travis Davis NOLS grad