Funding Opportunities & Awards

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2012 Nation's Best Undergraduate Education

Portland State University recently was named by The Princeton Review as one of the best institutions in the country for undergraduate education. Only about 15 percent of colleges in the United States make the Princeton Review list. They include public and private schools, and vary considerably by region, size, selectivity and character. "Each one is an outstanding institution we highly recommend to college applicants and their parents.  In our opinion, these are the cream of the crop institutions for undergraduates in America," said Robert Franek, senior vice president of publishing for The Princeton Review.

The organization uses a combination of academic data, information gathered from Princeton Review staff visits, and opinions from the National College Counselor Advisory Board when considering schools for the book. It also relies heavily on student surveys, which compose Top 20 ranking lists in 62 wide-ranging categories such as "Best Campus Food" and "Most Accessible Professors."

2011 PSU Ranked Among Top 50 Graduate Programs

The U.S. News Media Group's 2012 edition of Best Graduate Schools includes several top-50 rankings for graduate programs at Portland State University (PSU).  The Graduate programs at PSU ranked within the top 50 of their category include:

• Environmental Policy and Management (#13), City Management and Urban Policy (#17), and Public Affairs (#49), housed in the College of Urban and Public Affairs;
• Rehabilitation Counseling (#23), in the Graduate School of Education; and,
• Social Work (#36), in the School of Social Work.

2011 PSU Named Among 'America's Best Colleges'

For the eigth year in a row, Portland State University's community-based learning curriculum is among the best in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report. Portland State is ranked among the top public, national institutions under the section "Choosing a School: Programs to Look For," in the following four categories: Service-Learning, Learning Communities, First-year Experience, and Senior Capstone.

Portland State also ranked highly on the Washington Monthly (WM) survey of national universities.  WM recognizes schools "based on their contribution to the public good in the three broad categories of Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country)."  To read more about PSU's WM placement and the full description of each category, please click here.     

2010 MacJannet Prize

Portland State University's Student Leaders for Service Program is among the winners of the second annual MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship. The MacJannet Prize, which is administered by the Talloires Network, received 66 nominations from 54 universities in 27 countries around the world. The prize recognises exceptional student civic engagement initiatives based in Talloires Network member universities around the world and contributes financially to their ongoing public service efforts. The Network is led by Presidents from over 200 universities throughout the world and builds a global movement of civically engaged and socially responsible higher education institutions. The geographic diversity of the winning programs demonstrates the global scope of the movement to incorporate civic engagement within higher education. In all regions of the world, higher education institutions are responding to pressing social issues, and students in particular are championing the idea of global citizenship. The MacJannet Prize recognizes the winning programs as models for universities worldwide and will continue to encourage community engagement within higher education.

2009 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction

Portland State University (PSU) has been named to the 2009 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, one of the highest federal recognitions a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.

The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual Honor Roll award, recognized more than 700 colleges and universities for their impact on issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice. On campuses across the country, thousands of students joined their faculty to develop innovative programs and projects to meet local needs using the skills gained in their classrooms. Students served as consultants to budget-strapped nonprofits and businesses, volunteered at K-12 schools, and organized environmental conservation projects.

To read more about PSU's community-university leadership, please read the following highlights of Senior Capstone and Sustainability Courses.

2009 Saviors of Our Cities (SOOC)

In fall 2009, PSU was named to the nation's top 25 'best neighbor' colleges and universities for its community-university partnership contributions.  With placement determined by Dr. Evan S. Dobelle's detailed survey of economic, social, and cultural impact, PSU's ranking at number 9, testifies to the fact that civic engagement remains a campus priority.

"The Saviors of Our Cities rankings are composed of academic institutions diverse in size, geography and course offerings. They have demonstrated and documented long-standing cooperative efforts with community leaders to rehabilitate the cities around them, to influence community revitalization and cultural renewal, and to encourage economic expansion of the local economy, urban development and community service."  To read the full 2009 survey results, including institution rankings, please visit the 2009 SOOC Survey Overview.

2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Partnerships

"Engagement" is Portland State University's core leadership position. Developing and sustaining reciprocal teaching and/or research partnerships are foundational to effective community engagement. The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation presented the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Partnerships (JRCPA) on April 7, 2009 to Stroke Camp Northwest. The award-winning community-university partnership team was awarded $10,000, and the two runners-up were each awarded $5,000. Exemplary Applicants included 25 examples of campus-community partnerships with academic departments and interdisciplinary teams that leverage the resources of the university for the benefit of the community and the university, and enhance both research and student learning.

2008 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration

The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration is one of the programs of the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation (JRCPF); it bestows one award per state, to a college or university program that addresses critical areas of public need, in partnership with a community group. The award is named for President and Mrs. Carter as a tribute to their lifelong efforts to develop and support safe, healthy, and caring communities throughout the world. In public office and in their daily lives, they have consistently supported public improvement efforts based on cooperation, mutual learning, and shared responsibility.

2007 C. Peter Magrath/W.K. Kellogg Foundation Engagement Award

The Community Watershed Stewardship Program (CWSP), a partnership between Portland State University and the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, was named the western regional winner of the C. Peter Magrath/W.K. Kellogg Foundation Engagement Award.  This 2007 honor marks a new national designation for outstanding community-university outreach and engagement.

2005 American Democracy Project

The American Democracy Project (ADP) is a multi-campus initiative that seeks to create an intellectual and experiential understanding of civic engagement for undergraduates enrolled at  American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) member institutions. The goal of the project is to produce graduates who understand and are committed to engaging in meaningful actions as democratic citizens.

The 2nd Annual National Conference was designed to recognize colleges and universities that have created innovative and successful approaches to community-based learning and civic engagement. Portland State University was recognized as a 2005 leader in these fields and asked to facilitate the conference.

A panel of PSU faculty, staff and students present a PowerPoint presentation on the "Institutionalization of Civic Engagement at PSU."