Ohio State’s community engagement receives national recognition

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Ohio State's community engagement receives national recognition

University first received the designation in 2008

The Ohio State University is being recognized for a commitment to community engagement in Ohio and beyond.

The university received the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement (CE) Classification, an elective designation awarded by the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, that highlights the institution's commitment to community engagement.

"Ohio State's recognition by the Carnegie Foundation is a testament to our university's commitment to improving the lives of people in the communities we serve throughout Ohio, across the nation and around the globe," said Ravi V. Bellamkonda, executive vice president and provost. "I'm proud of the students, faculty and staff who continue to embrace community engagement as an integral part of the Ohio State experience."

The CE Classification is awarded after each institution completes a self-study. The classification has been the leading framework for institutional assessment and recognition of community engagement in U.S. higher education for the past 19 years, with classification cycles in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2024 and 2026.

Ohio State first received the designation in 2008, earning reclassification in 2015 and now in 2026.

"The mutually beneficial collaborations we have with our community partners greatly enhance our discovery, learning and impact," said Jason Reece, vice provost for engaged scholarship and community engagement. "Our partnerships elevate the positive outcomes we have in the community."

Engagement is a key pillar of Ohio State's strategic plan, Education for Citizenship 2035. The 10-year vision for the university calls for promoting transformative impact in research, innovation and knowledge to serve and improve the community, and drive economic prosperity and vitality in the state, nation and the world.

Some of the recent highlights of that vision include two recent recipients of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Award from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, one of the highest honors a university-community partnership can receive:

• Learning in Fitness and Education through Sports (LiFEsports), where each year more than 1,000 youths participate in summer camps, year-round sports clinics and a youth leadership academy. Annually, an average of 160 college students from more than 20 different majors and several universities complete internships, paid employment, research, classwork and volunteer experiences with the program.
• Columbus Free Clinic (CFC), a student-run clinic launched more than 30 years ago that seeks to address unmet health care needs of underserved adults in the Columbus community. Each year, 400 Ohio State students volunteer for the CFC, developing knowledge and skills in patient care and community engagement while assisting in providing community health care.

In the 2026 cycle, 237 institutions earned the CE Classification, bringing the total to 277 institutions currently holding the designation.

The 2026 cohort includes a diverse range of institutions, with 157 public institutions, 80 private colleges and universities, and 81 minority serving institutions represented among the recipients.

"The institutions receiving the 2026 Community Engagement Classification exemplify American higher education's commitment to the greater good," said ACE President Ted Mitchell. "The beneficiaries of this unflagging dedication to public purpose missions are their students, their teaching and research enterprises, and their wider communities."

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