Rollins Earns 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification

Rollins has 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 an institution’s commitment to community engagement.

“The institutions receiving the 2026 Community Engagement Classification exemplify American higher education’s commitment to the greater good,” says 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.”

The CE classification is awarded following a process of self-study by each institution. 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.

In the 2026 cycle, 239 institutions earned the CE Classification, including only 12 in Florida, bringing the total to 279 nationwide.

“This recognition affirms our deep commitment to community partnerships and civic engagement and reflects the alignment of our mission, culture, and practices with community engagement at the highest level,” says Meredith Hein, director of the Center for Leadership & Community Engagement (CLCE). “This rigorous, collective effort—spanning research, data collection, writing, and review—resulted in a submission our external reviewer called one of the best they had seen this cycle. It’s a milestone worth celebrating and an opportunity to continue deepening our partnerships and impact.”

At Rollins, community engagement is not an add-on—it is embedded in the academic experience and campus culture. Through the work of CLCE, 100 percent of College of Liberal Arts (CLA) students participate in community engagement that connects coursework to real-world impact. Since the launch of GivePulse, a volunteer management system that allows the Rollins community to locate service opportunities, students have logged more than 110,000 service hours and contributed an estimated $765,300 in economic value to Central Florida and beyond.

Each year, more than 50 community engagement courses are offered across CLA and the Hamilton Holt School of Professional Advancement & Graduate Studies, spanning disciplines from developmental psychology and student teaching to international human rights and strategic communication.

Beyond the classroom, Rollins cultivates long-term, reciprocal partnerships with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity Winter Park-Maitland, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, Orange County Public Schools, and Winter Park Day Nursery. Signature service-focused initiatives like Immersions, Alternative Spring Breaks (ASB), SPARC Day, the Bonner Leaders Program, and the Social Impact Hub position students alongside community partners to address critical issues such as poverty, food insecurity, health equity, climate action, and educational access.

Together, these sustained efforts reflect the depth, rigor, and distinction required for the Carnegie classification and underscore Rollins’ enduring commitment to the public good.

“Higher education is a vital economic engine for us all,” says Timothy F.C. Knowles, president of the Carnegie Foundation. “Our colleges and universities not only fuel science and innovation, they build prosperity in rural, urban and suburban communities nationwide. 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 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.