Wisconsin came in third nationally for high school graduation rates at 85 percent this year. Despite the state's high marks, Milwaukee had the sixth lowest rate of large school districts nationally at 45 percent, according to a study by the Manhattan Institute.

Because of concerns about inequality that such studies raise, Teach For America, an organization that seeks to eliminate educational inequality, has called Marquette students to take action.

"Education inequality is our generation's civil rights issue, and if we don't do something to cause change, no one will," said Ashley Beckner, Teach for America campus campaign manager and College of Business Administration senior.

Teach For America works to accomplish its mission by building a highly selective national corps of outstanding recent college graduates from all academic majors and career interests. Members in the program commit two years to teach in the lowest income urban and rural communities.

Teach For America began formal recruitment at Marquette in 2003, and in the last two years, 18 Marquette alumni have worked for Teach for America immediately after graduation, according to Amy Duarte, Teach For America recruitment director for Wisconsin.

Two such alumni include Andrew Doyle and Patricia McKee.

Doyle, a 2006 graduate, has been teaching ninth grade math in Durham, N.C., since the beginning of the semester.

"Everything from gangs to malnutrition plague my classroom," he said. "The past four weeks have probably been the hardest of my life, but the most rewarding."

McKee, a 2005 graduate of the School of Education, is currently teaching eighth grade special education in inner-city Philadelphia. She compared the location to "another world" and said she has had a "completely changed outlook on the world" as a result of participating in Teach For America.

"Even Marquette, which has a great social outlook and outreach, is different from living every day in service," she said. "It shows you that a person really can make a difference. Not only that, but through Teach For America you can see what you're accomplishing."

Though McKee earned a teaching certificate at Marquette, no teaching certificate is necessary because Teach For America has a summer training program that prepares its participants for teaching.

The selection criteria for applicants are based on past achievements, such as campus leadership, grade point average, ability to overcome challenges, strong organization and a desire to pursue Teach For America's mission.

Teach For America began 16 years ago when Princeton student Wendy Kopp based her senior thesis on a program that would bring outstanding recent college graduates into low-income communities to teach for two years and gain insight into the obstacles facing children in school.

All Teach For America corps members receive full-time teacher salaries as well as full health benefits, according to Beckner.

According to Teach For America, children in high-income communities are seven times more likely to graduate from college than children in low-income communities. By the time children in low-income communities are 9 years old, they are already three grade levels behind their high-income peers.

"The achievement gap of education inequality completely surrounds Marquette, and through Teach For America you have the ability to make an immediate and direct impact," Duarte said.

Doyle agreed.

"The more students that commit to the cause, the more lives can be changed," he said.