WASHINGTON (AP) – Backpacking in Europe? Nah, the dollar’s too weak – and for some, the needs closer to home are too great.

More than ever, graduating college seniors are signing up to spend two years in America’s poorest communities as part of Teach for America, the nonprofit organization that recruits and trains top college students for teaching jobs.

The group saw applications jump by more than a third this year from about 18,000 to nearly 25,000. Of those, about 3,700 are expected to step up to the blackboard as new teachers this fall. That’s up more than 25 percent from the 2,900 who did so last year.

Several factors appear to be behind the trend. In a slow economy, teaching often becomes more attractive because it is generally considered stable.

Still, Teach for America’s growth can’t be attributed just to economic conditions.

The group, around since 1990, increased its recruiting staff this year and arranged one-on-one meetings with 30,000 students at about 400 colleges, up from last year.

“We are not in the business of just going after anybody,” said Elissa Clapp, who oversees recruiting. “We are looking for a very specific person.”

That has given Teach for America “cachet,” says Harvard University education professor Susan Moore Johnson. “The status of the program has grown steadily among college students,” she said.