News

According to The Princeton Review and Campus Compact, Portland State University is one of the nation’s best colleges fostering social responsibility and public service.

PSU was selected as one of 81 institutions in 33 states to be featured in The Princeton Review’s forthcoming book, Colleges with a Conscience: 81 Great Schools with Outstanding Community Involvement (Random House / Princeton Review Books, $18.95 paperback) and is the only public university in Oregon selected for the publication (Lewis & Clark College is the only other college or university in Oregon recognized).

The Princeton Review partnered with Campus Compact, a national organization committed to the civic purposes of higher education, to develop Colleges with a Conscience and choose the schools featured in the book. The book's editors also invited dozens of organizations with expertise in campus community service and student engagement to nominate colleges for inclusion. Criteria included the college's admissions practices and scholarships rewarding community service; support for service-learning programs, student activism, and student voice in school governance; and level of social engagement of its student body.

Portland State University is known nationally for a curriculum focused on connecting the campus to the metro community, providing students and faculty opportunities to engage with organizations and industry throughout the area and enhancing both the quality of education and quality of life in the region. For the past three years, Portland State University has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition as having “outstanding examples of academic programs that are believed to lead to student success” for programs in service learning, internships and co-ops, learning communities, senior capstones and first-year experiences. Other schools acknowledged along with Portland State in U.S. News include Duke, Evergreen State College, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, University of California, Berkeley and the University of North Carolina.

“It is gratifying that Princeton Review and the Campus Compact are recognizing the longstanding and excellent work of faculty and staff at Portland State University who are so committed to providing our students with the values of social responsibility and public service,” said Terrel Rhodes, vice provost for Curriculum and Undergraduate Studies.

The Princeton Review and Campus Compact winnowed its list of 100 schools from a pool of over 900 colleges. From this shortlist, the editors collected extensive data about schools’ service programs and policies, surveying their students and faculty/staff. The 81 schools chosen for Colleges with a Conscience represent a diverse range of institutions by geographic region, campus size, setting and type.

Available in bookstores on June 21, 2005, the book has two-page profiles on each college and advice for applicants, providing detailed information about civic engagement and service-learning programs on campus, in the classroom, and in the community, as well as advice for applicants. The book also includes a section on researching colleges with service-learning programs and gaining financial support for service. Profiles of 15 students share perceptions and feedback about their civic engagement activities, advice and experience.

Portland State University, Oregon's only urban university, is the largest and most diverse in the state system. The University's position in Oregon's economic and cultural center allows for deep community engagement and the creation of partnerships with hundreds of organizations throughout the region—partnerships that give PSU students valuable learning opportunities as they solve real-world problems of business and community. Portland State offers more than 100 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees, as well as graduate certificates and continuing education programs. PSU serves more students and confers more master's degrees annually than any other Oregon university.

Source:
Terrel Rhodes (503-725-9010)
Office of Academic Affairs

For Immediate Release (#05-038)