University Civic Education or Community Engagement Requirements

Posted by HE-SL Listserv on June 16, 2020

The following question was posed in a resent email post on the HE-SL (Higher Education-Service Learning) listserv:

Does anyone know of institutions that require a civic education or community engagement course of all undergraduate students, for example as part of gen ed requirements?

Here are the responses:

At Drexel University we have a required first-year course for undergraduates called CIVC 101: Introduction to Civic Engagement. Here’s the site about it: https://drexel.edu/lindycenter/students/courses/first-year-civic-engagement/civc-101/.

Loyola University Chicago launched the Engaged Learning University Requirement in 2012, and you can find more information here: www.luc.edu/engagedlearning.

Santa Clara University requires that all undergraduate students taken an experiential learning course focused on social justice.

California State University Monterey Bay has had a two-step service learning requirement.  The Lower Division Requirement is embedded in General Education (Social Sciences:  Civics/Service Learning).  The Upper Division Requirement is embedded in the learning outcomes of each major.  Here is a link to our framework and learning outcomes:  CSUMB Service Learning Outcomes.