Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement

Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement logo

The Carnegie Foundation Elective Classifications are the nation's leading framework for categorizing and describing colleges and universities in the United States. The Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement provides an independent and rigorous assessment of an institution's extraordinary commitment to, investment in, and accomplishment at community engagement.

The University of Denver was among the inaugural higher education institutions to receive the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement in 2007. DU was reclassified in 2015 and again in 2024.

As of 2024, DU is one of 368 institutions nationally — and only three in Colorado — to hold this prestigious classification.

At DU, community engagement is a method of research, creative work, teaching and learning that emphasizes university–community collaboration characterized by mutual benefit and reciprocity. Faculty, students and staff across campus use community-engaged methods to advance our vision of being a great private university dedicated to the public good.

DU’s reclassification in 2024 builds on a long history of community engagement as a key strategy to realize our vision to be a great private university dedicated to the public good. Today, faculty, staff, and students from across campus use community-engaged methods in collaboration with community partners to solve problems together. Community-engaged work is supported by essential offices, including the Center for Community Engagement to Advance Scholarship and Learning (CCESL).

2024 Application Highlights

Reflecting the institutionalization of community engagement, DU's 2024 reclassification application highlighted work carried out from 2015 to 2022 by more than 30 faculty and staff members, as well as nearly two dozen centers and programs, working in collaboration with over 40 community organizations.