A new study aims to address these questions by looking at the demographics of college applicants interested in teaching in America. It analyzes potential reasons why some groups who enter other fields steer clear of the classroom. Researchers merged eleven years of Common Application data with publicly available information from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Common Core of Data (CCD), the Private School Universe Survey (PSS), and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to develop a detailed picture of applicants’ academic and personal characteristics. If one checks a box on the Common App saying that teaching is something they’d consider, the researchers define that as “interest” in the profession.