MSU’s commitment to exemplary community engagement has been nationally recognized through its selection as a recipient of the 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The awarding organizations noted MSU’s excellence in deepening partnerships, leveraging community asset and addressing societal challenges, and commended the university for aligning community-engaged work with its mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices.

“Michigan State’s commitment to community engagement is a vital part of our continuing land-grant legacy,” said MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D. “This classification reaffirms the power of sustained, reciprocal partnerships and the impact our faculty, staff and students have when they work hand-in-hand with communities we serve to address real-world challenges.”

MSU was among just 13 colleges selected to participate in the Carnegie Foundation’s pilot of the classification in 2005 and became one of the first institutions to receive the official designation in 2006. The university was re-classified in 2015, and this year marks the third cycle in which MSU was eligible and earned this distinction, which it will hold until 2032.