With the motto “Let Knowledge Serve the City” arching over PSU’s downtown Portland campus, it’s only fitting that Portland State University topped all other West Coast universities for service learning, according to the U.S. News & World Report in its 2022-2023 Best Colleges rankings.
Since its birth as an institution dedicated to training GI’s home from fighting World War II to its current role at Oregon’s urban research university, Portland State is deeply embedded in the community and its students are graduating with rich experience working with local organizations and employers.
For students, it’s an opportunity to put what they’ve learned in class to real-world use while serving a population that often gets overlooked. It’s also one of 200 community-based learning capstone courses that PSU offers annually, engaging 4,000 students each year in meaningful community work.
This summer, PSU celebrated a 50-year partnership with Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp where capstone students are paired with individuals with developmental disabilities and help them overcome barriers and partake in the transformative joy of the Mt. Hood wilderness. More than 5,000 students have worked at the camp over the last five decades.
Capstone students also volunteer at The PSU Landing at First United Methodist Church, new emergency housing for PSU students, help incarcerated women at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility and advance racial equity with the Urban League.
All that adds up to a No. 8 national ranking in Academic Programs to Look For in Service Learning from the annual U.S. News college report.
Portland State is also celebrating its best-in-Oregon ranking (128th nationwide) for Ethnic Diversity, a new focus area for the annual report and particularly important for Portland State which is entering its second year of a three year plan, Time to Act, for racial justice and equity.
And, core to its mission as an access university, Portland State remains the top school in Oregon (No. 63 nationwide) for social mobility, providing a pathway to a resilient future for underserved populations. Portland State has made great strides in its services for first generation students and its GANAS program for Latino student success has been nationally recognized.
All of Portland State’s programs share a laser focus on student success and a shared willingness to try new ways of research, teaching and learning, which is why PSU remains the top Oregon school for innovation (41st overall for Most Innovative Schools).
Original source can be found here.
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