Greetings,

On behalf of the team in the Center for Community Engaged Learning, we are delighted to present the 2024–2025 edition of the Michigan State University (MSU) Community-Engaged Learning Index. This year’s report highlights a dynamic range of stories, data, and milestones that reflect MSU’s deep commitment to embedding community-engaged learning across the student experience.

In 2024 and again in 2025, MSU was recognized as the No. 1 public university in the nation for service-learning by U.S. News & World Report. At MSU, community-engaged learning is a deeply valued strategy for advancing education for the public good. It reflects the powerful relationships between students, faculty, staff, and community partners who collaborate with care and shared purpose.

The stories featured in this year’s Index illuminate the interconnected nature of MSU’s community-engaged learning efforts. From the Community Engagement Scholars Program to Spartan Days of Service, and from pre-professional service placements with local hospitals, to sustainability and food justice projects through the RISE Living-Learning Community, MSU students are meaningfully engaging with community-identified priorities. As part of the Macomb County Street Medicine Program, students provide compassionate care to those often excluded from traditional health systems, while public health students in Ghana work alongside local partners to promote menstrual health equity. Though varied in scope, all these efforts are united by a shared commitment to reciprocity and transformational learning.

As you explore this year’s Index, we hope you are inspired by the depth and breadth of community-engaged learning at MSU. These programs, partnerships, and experiences not only prepare students for lifelong civic and social responsibility, but they also fulfill our land-grant mission in real, visible, and measurable ways.

Thank you to all the campus and community partners who make this impactful work possible.

Sincerely,