Building on feedback from colleges and universities across the country, the Carnegie Foundation and ACE welcome institutions to participate in a newly designed application process starting with the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification
Washington (Jan. 26, 2024)—The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Council on Education (ACE) today released an updated application framework for the 2026 Community Engagement Elective Classification. Building on previous revisions to the Elective Classifications, the 2026 cycle will include a more streamlined and accessible application process, with an eye on how campuses across sectors—in particular Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, and community colleges—demonstrate commitments to reciprocal and mutually beneficial partnerships with communities.
The Elective Classifications acknowledge the extraordinary commitment to, investment in, and accomplishment among various institutional missions and priorities. There are currently two Elective Classifications in the United States that institutions can pursue: Community Engagement, which currently recognizes 368 institutions; and Leadership for Public Purpose, which has nine founding institutions and will announce its inaugural set of recognized institutions in 2024. The Australian Community Engagement Classification announced its first two classified institutions in November 2023 and the Canadian Carnegie Community Engagement Classification is set to launch its inaugural cycle in early 2024.
“The sharing of knowledge and resources between institutions and their communities is critically important to the advancement of student growth, and in addressing societal challenges,” said Cammie Jones, director of the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement. “This latest iteration of the application will better allow institutions to articulate the nuances of their work and their connections with their communities. We are eager to see how this new application and the new application cadence will create more opportunities for institutions to engage with the Electives Classifications and be recognized for their contributions to the public good.”
Starting with the 2026 cycle, the Community Engagement application cycles will open every three years and campuses that obtain the classification will retain it for six years. The application for the 2026 Elective Classification for Community Engagement will be available Jan. 26 and applications will be due by April 1, 2025, with the announcement of the designated campuses in January 2026. More information about the application and the timeline can be found here.
The changes are based on reviews of prior Elective Classification application cycles, including analysis of participation rates and the consideration of feedback from participating colleges and universities. Through an inclusive process that engaged hundreds of individuals across numerous campuses and higher education associations, the new framework has significantly revised the structure of the questions while maintaining high quality standards for asset-based, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial approaches to community-academic partnerships. The new application eliminates parts of the application that were repetitive and burdensome, instead encouraging colleges and universities to focus their attention on the people and transformation their community has sought to support.
“We expect that this latest iteration will be both familiar to campuses that have applied previously as the focus remains the same, and welcome as it offers clear steps for how to express a coherent and comprehensive story of institutional community engagement and how it makes a meaningful difference to the lives of students and communities, as well as the scholarship and efforts of faculty and staff,” said Emily Janke, director, Institute for Community & Economic Engagement, and associate professor of peace and conflict studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Prof. Janke served as co-chair of the 2026 Revision Committee.
The Elective Classifications are meant to recognize institutional alignment with a wide range of outcomes focused on the public good. The Carnegie Classifications is currently considering additional classifications that will recognize the varied missions and unique forms of impact institutions are having, such as through sustainability, serving indigenous populations, supporting military connected students, and expanding opportunities to learners impacted by the justice system.
For general inquiries regarding the Carnegie Community Engagement Elective Classification application process, timeline, web resources and tools, and guidance related to application content, please contact Cammie Jones.
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About ACE
ACE is a membership organization that mobilizes the higher education community to shape effective public policy and foster innovative, high-quality practice. As the major coordinating body for the nation’s colleges and universities, our strength lies in our diverse membership of more than 1,600 colleges and universities, related associations, and other organizations in America and abroad. ACE is the only major higher education association to represent all types of U.S. accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities. For more information, please visit www.acenet.edu or follow ACE on Twitter @ACEducation.
About The Carnegie Foundation
The mission of the Carnegie Foundation is to catalyze transformational change in education so that every student has the opportunity to live a healthy, dignified, and fulfilling life. Enacted by an act of Congress in 1906, the Foundation has a rich history of driving transformational change in the education sector, including the establishment of TIAA-CREF and the creation of the Education Testing Service, the GRE, Pell Grants, and the Carnegie Classifications for Higher Education.
Contact:
Audrey Hamilton
auhamilton@acenet.edu
202-431-3977