ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The Peace Corps says it’s received the highest number of applications in 40 years.

Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet is scheduled to announce Wednesday that applications to join the international service organization increased 32 percent over the last fiscal year. The 23,000 applications received represent the highest number since 1975.

The numbers come more than a year after the Peace Corps announced plans to simplify and shorten the sign-up process and diversify its applicant pool.

Hessler-Radelet is expected to make the announcement at the University of Michigan.

Then-U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy came to the Ann Arbor school in 1960, weeks before being elected president. He challenged students to give two years of their lives and serve the developing world — a call that led to creating the Peace Corps.