The past few years have witnessed a surge in the number of students from top colleges applying to teach in low-income schools after graduation, a fact that could affect the decisions of seniors starting their job hunts.
Teach for America, an organization that seeks to attract college graduates for two-year teaching stints in urban and rural communities, recently marked its 15th anniversary amid reports of a dramatic increase in applicants, participants and represented regions.
Teach for America now has over 3,600 members working in 22 distinct regions, an increase from about 1,000 members in 13 regions five years ago.
Penn will be well represented in the organization's ranks, with 23 seniors preparing to begin their first year of teaching next fall. However, the graduates of some peer institutions have shown even greater interest in the program: Cornell will send 51 graduates to the program this year, Yale will send 35, Harvard 32, Brown 26 and Columbia 24.
Jordan Dittmann, the East Coast recruitment director for Teach for America, said that a number of factors have contributed to the increased interest in the organization, including a new desire to "serve the country and make a difference after graduating from college."
"Post-9/11, people are more interested in national service," said Dittmann, who graduated from Penn in 2003.
Patricia Rose, director of Career Services at Penn, said that the University has not seen a particular increase in interest in public-service careers among recent graduates and gave different reasons for Teach for America's success.
"They do recruiting just like big companies do recruiting," Rose said, adding that the organization has had especially effective recruitment campaigns. She said that Teach for America has successfully emphasized the competitive nature of its selection process and the fact that it has a beginning and an end to its commitment.
"Teach for America says, 'We go to the top schools and recruit top students,'" Rose said. "You may want to have a career in education, or you may not."
It is the relatively brief commitment the program entails that has caused some studies to question Teach for America's effectiveness at solving the nation's educational issues.
Dittmann disagreed that many of Teach for America's graduates lack a lifelong commitment to education, saying that 60 percent of the program's alumni "stay in the general field of education."
However, she agreed that the program's recruiting tactics differ from those of similar organizations.
"We are the only nonprofit that recruits like a for-profit company," Dittmann said. "We're trying to build a force of leaders. We're looking for the top people to join us."
Mike Wang, a current Penn Law student and former teacher in the program, said that his experience with Teach for America is the reason he was able to act as an adviser to the governor of Louisiana on education. He said that he was impressed with Teach for America's pitch while considering what to do after his senior year.
"I think Teach for America has done a great job of articulating the benefits of its program," she said. "It is a really unique opportunity to experience real responsibility right after stepping off a college campus."
Evan Smith, a 2004 College graduate, was in his second year of teaching with the program in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck, prompting him to work with the relief effort. Smith believed he saw "a certain emptiness in students" at Penn who, despite being career-focused, desired to help those in need.
"I would like to think that there's a tremendous sense among many people our age who want to get involved," Smith said. "I think Teach for America appeals to that in a way no other organization does."
