Community Engagement in the CSU

Community engagement experiences afford students opportunities to immerse themselves in the issues communities face and encourages them to learn from and serve alongside community members. These opportunities promote self-empowerment and life-long learning while providing high quality experiences of being academically engaged and authentically involved, thus becoming agents of change across all types of difference.

2018 marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the CSU Center for Community Engagement (CCE), the first of its kind in the nation. This paved the way for many firsts, including the institutionalization of service-learning across all 23 CSU campuses and the establishment of California’s Call to Service Initiative. Today, CCE actively advances the CSU’s commitment to inclusivity, equity and student success through high quality community programs and scholarship.

During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21, when the majority of community engagement placements were either canceled or moved to remote:  

• Centers for Community Engagement and Service-Learning, in partnership with 923 CSU faculty and 3,315 community organizations, made available nearly 2,300 service-learning courses. 
• 38,058 CSU students contributed 728,000 hours of service to their communities through remote and in-person service-learning activities. 
• CSU campuses and CCE raised more than $4.3 million to support community engagement, a return on investment of $4 for every dollar invested by the state.

Together, the CSU and our partners are strengthening the CSU and California. More information about the Center for Community Engagement can be found at www.calstate.edu/cce. See also Our Collective Impact This link will take you to an external website in a new tab..