UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With 25 alumni participants, Penn State ranks among the nation's top 20 large colleges and universities contributing the most graduates to Teach For America in the teaching corps’ recently released annual rankings of schools. For the past decade, the University has ranked among the top schools.
This year, the Penn Staters are part of a diverse network of more than 60,000 leaders who are working in high-needs schools nationwide, impacting 36 states and the District of Columbia, and representing more than 640 colleges and universities.
Since 1990, Teach For America has partnered with communities to expand educational opportunities for children facing the challenges of poverty. Low-income students fail to graduate high school at six times the rate of higher income youth, according to the organization.
To expand educational opportunities for America’s youth, college graduates and professionals make a two-year commitment to the corps to teach in low-income urban and rural public schools, and often go on to work in education and other professional sectors after their service.
This year’s corps is among the most diverse in the organization’s history with more than half of incoming members identifying as people of color, in addition to 43% who come from low-income backgrounds and one-in-three who are the first in their family to graduate from college.
For more information, visit teachforamerica.org.