student taking notes while standing outside at Quicksilver County Park

Community-Engaged Learning

Work with local leaders and residents on local issues. Learn to listen and listen to learn. Use what you learn to contribute to changing the world.

Engage in activities that address justice issues, strengthen our communities, and foster personal development of civic competencies and values. Community-engaged learning courses are an integral part of the university’s undergraduate curriculum, providing you with academic coursework and community-based lessons about social justice issues and your potential to be an agent of change.

As an undergraduate, you are required to complete a community-engaged learning course in order to graduate. But for many students, one isn’t enough. Our students average 1.5 community-engaged learning courses during their academic careers.

Join a Living-Learning Community

Live with others in a designated residential setting while taking a common set of courses that integrate core requirements into the curriculum. Living-learning communities integrate a year-long community-engaged learning initiative that allows students to build authentic relationships with the community and maximize their contributions to positive social change efforts.

Students on the grass speak to USF President.

Contribute to Social Justice

Take community-engaged learning beyond your coursework and join initiatives and programs dedicated to advancing the common good while also developing academic, professional, and civic skills.

Bell tower at St Ignatius Church at sundown

Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good

Fashion and more humane and just world. Cultivate authentic community partnerships while pursuing a life of ethical public service.

African American man sits in protest with fist raised

Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice

Confront injustice and inhumanity in all forms. Study the philosophy and methods of nonviolence. Work to address social problems in our communities, across the nation, and around the world.

Mural that reads Love is the Revolution

Engage San Francisco

Support children, youth, and families in the Western Addition to achieve their full potential in education, health, career development, and housing.