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UC Berkeley tops 2012 ranking for Teach for America recruits

By Public Affairs

UC Berkeley ranks as this year’s top contributor to the Teach for America corps, with 88 graduates starting their two-year classroom commitments at urban and rural K-12 schools this fall.

“I’m extraordinarily excited about the contribution UC Berkeley has made to Teach For America and to the greater education reform movement,” said Raquel Lucente, campus representative for Teach for America at UC Berkeley. “Over the past three years we’ve moved from being the third largest to being the largest contributor to the corps.”

Chancellor Robert Birgeneau (top left) at a reception in May for UC Berkeley graduates joining the Teach for America corps

Teach for America sends recruiters to more than 600 college campuses in search of seniors and graduates from all academic majors and backgrounds who show perseverance and leadership skills.

“We are grateful to the outstanding colleges and universities that cultivate graduates with the leadership skills and determination to address one of our nation’s greatest injustices, the disparity in educational opportunity between children in low-income communities and their wealthier peers,” said Wendy Kopp, chief executive officer and founder of Teach For America, in a press statement.

“These corps members bring a diversity of experiences and accomplishments to the classroom, and they all share a powerful commitment to work toward solving this problem,” she added.

The new ranking lists the top five contributing colleges and universities in three school-sized categories:  large, medium and small. UC Berkeley ranked first among large universities, while the University of Florida came in second and UCLA third with 78 and 75 graduates, respectively.

Overall, this year’s corps members will teach 750,000 students in 36 states.

Large Schools (10,000+ Undergrads)

  1. University of California, Berkeley (88 graduates to serve in the 2012 teaching corps)
  2. University of Florida (78)
  3. University of California, Los Angeles (75)
  4. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (75)
  5. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (71)/ University of Southern California (71)

Medium Schools (3,000-9,999 Undergrads)

  1. Northwestern University (63)
  2. Harvard University (62)
  3. Georgetown University (61)
  4. Boston College (53)
  5. University of Pennsylvania (41)/ Tulane University (41)

Small Schools (2,999 or Fewer Undergrads)

  1. Wellesley College (21)
  2. DePauw University (19)/ Amherst College (19)
  3. Colorado College (18)/ Denison University (18)
  4. Barnard College (17)