February 20, 2026

SVSU community engagement activities earn national recognition

A tradition of involving students in research, fieldwork and service learning has earned Saginaw Valley State University the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement (CE) Classification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Council on Education. This elective designation marks SVSU as a university that is exceptionally engaged with the community it serves. SVSU first applied for and earned the 10-year Community Engagement Classification in 2015. 

To earn the CE Classification, SVSU completed 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 now 2026.

In the 2026 cycle, 237 institutions earned the CE Classification, joining the 40 institutions classified in 2024 for a total of 277 institutions that currently hold the designation. Of the institutions recognized in 2026, 189 have previously held it. 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.

“Higher education is a vital economic engine for us all. Our colleges and universities not only fuel science and innovation, they build prosperity in rural, urban and suburban communities nationwide,” said Timothy F.C. Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation. “We celebrate each of these institutions, particularly their dedication to partnering with their neighbors —fostering civic engagement, building useable knowledge, and catalyzing real world learning experiences for students.”

“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.”

About the Carnegie Classifications
The Carnegie Classifications are the nation’s leading framework for categorizing and describing colleges and universities in the United States. Utilized frequently by policymakers, funders, and researchers, the Classifications are a critical benchmarking tool for postsecondary institutions. ACE and the Carnegie Foundation announced a partnership in February 2022 to reimagine the Classifications to better reflect the diversity of postsecondary institutions and more completely characterize the impact that today’s institutions have in society.