MSU earns 3rd Carnegie classification, recognizing leadership in community engagement

MSU’s commitment to exemplary community engagement has been nationally recognized through its selection as a recipient of the 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The awarding organizations noted MSU’s excellence in deepening partnerships, leveraging community asset and addressing societal challenges, and commended the university for aligning community-engaged work with its mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices.

“Michigan State’s commitment to community engagement is a vital part of our continuing land-grant legacy,” said MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D. “This classification reaffirms the power of sustained, reciprocal partnerships and the impact our faculty, staff and students have when they work hand-in-hand with communities we serve to address real-world challenges.”

MSU was among just 13 colleges selected to participate in the Carnegie Foundation’s pilot of the classification in 2005 and became one of the first institutions to receive the official designation in 2006. The university was re-classified in 2015, and this year marks the third cycle in which MSU was eligible and earned this distinction, which it will hold until 2032.

“For 20 years, MSU’s commitment to community engagement has been recognized through the Carnegie classification, highlighting the value the university places on these efforts,” said Kwesi Brookins, Ph.D., vice provost for University Outreach and Engagement. “Earning this distinction reflects MSU’s ongoing dedication to building long-lasting, mutually beneficial partnerships.”

The areas of consideration for the designation included campus, community and community engagement context; institutional identity and culture; quality of community engagement relationships and academic partnerships; faculty and staff; curricular engagement; co-curricular engagement; civic learning and life; and community engagement and other institutional initiatives.

“This classification affirms MSU’s national leadership in the scholarship of engagement,” MSU Provost Laura Lee McIntyre, Ph.D., said. “Drawing on community expertise, our scholars and partners collaborate to advance knowledge and learning, address critical societal issues, and contribute to the public good.”

MSU is one of 277 institutions nationwide to receive the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. The application process involved a self-study documenting examples and descriptions of institutionalized practices of community engagement.

“This accomplishment is especially noteworthy amid significant federal funding shifts shaping the future of higher education,” the Carnegie team wrote.