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Benefits of Service-Learning

Service-Learning benefits students, instructors, the university, and the community. Service-Learning not only fulfills the institution’s historic mission, but reinforces the concepts woven throughout the university’s strategic plan. Teaching and advising, research and scholarship, outreach, and the university community can all be enhanced through student and faculty involvement in community service-learning.

Two women sit on orange chairs on the Boise State University quad. They are working together on laptops.

Student benefits:

  • Hands-on use of skills and knowledge that increases the relevance of academic concepts. 
  • Accommodation of different learning styles
  • Interaction with people of diverse cultures and backgrounds
  • Personal and interpersonal development
    • Leadership and communication skills
    • Increased sense of self-efficacy, analytical skills, and social development
  • Valuable career and resume-building experience
    • Seventy-three percent (73%) of employers would like to see “The ability to apply knowledge and skills to real-world settings through internships or other hands-on experiences” emphasized more in higher education. -AACU survey of employers
  • Opportunities for meaningful involvement with the local community
  • Increased civic engagement and responsibility

“It brings books to life and life to books”

Learn more at our Students section.

Instructor benefits:

  • More lively class discussions and increased student participation
  • Greater retention of course material
  • A way to make a positive community impact and learn about our local community
  • More innovative approaches to active learning and experiential learning
  • Enhanced opportunities for research and publication
  • See benefits of SL Designation

“It changes faculty role from the expert on top to the expert on tap”

Learn more at our Instructors section.

Community benefits:

  • Increased student/public awareness of their organization
  • Short and long-term solutions to pressing community needs
  • Positive relationship opportunities with the university
  • Access to university resources
  • Opportunities to contribute to the educational process
  • Affordable access to professional development

“It shifts from community as laboratory to community as classroom”

Learn more at our Community Partners section.

Adapted from the Institute for Learning and Teaching. (2007). CSU Service-Learning Faculty Manual, Fourth Edition. Colorado State University.