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Postgraduate service rising in popularity at Stanford

While many Stanford students dream of landing a job at a Fortune 500 company or top consulting firm, a growing number are pursuing public service options after graduation. In recent years, postgraduate service programs, such as Teach For America and AmeriCorps, have witnessed a surge in applications from Stanford.

As Jim Murray, the Postgraduate Public Service Program director at the Haas Center, puts it, “I think that we have leaders who want to make change, and they see public service as a way to do that.”

Murray estimates 100 to 120 Stanford students go on to complete postgraduate service each year, either through the Haas Center or external programs.

Today’s millennial generation–those born after 1982–grew up with public service as part of their most basic education. More than 80 percent of current high school students perform community service, according to Morley Winograd and Michael Hais in their book “Millenial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics.” As a result, students are endowed with a more conscientious and informed worldview and are choosing to give back to their communities through public service, some say.

Lisa Hoffman, the Teach for America (TFA) on-campus recruiting director, noted the competitiveness of the program. In 2009,  TFA received 35,178 applications and had a 15 percent acceptance rate, she said.

Read the full story at the Stanford Daily.

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