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U.S. News & World Report Rankings

PSU Curriculum Nationally Ranked

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For the eighth 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 (USNWR). Portland State is ranked among the top public institutions nationally under the section "Choosing a School: Programs to look for" in four categories: First-year Experience, Senior Capstone, Learning Communities and Service Learning. Additionally, this is the eighth year that USNWR has published "a list of schools with outstanding examples of academic programs that lead to student success" as a part of its "America's Best Colleges 2011" edition.

These categories reflect an increasing awareness of strategies for engaged learning that Portland State has pioneered. See how we ranked and some quick facts about the many ways Portland State is leading the way. For more information on community-based learning at Portland State University, please contact PSU's Center for Academic Excellence: 503-725-5642 or cae@pdx.edu.

Senior Capstone

The Numbers

 PSU supports one of the largest Capstone Programs in the nation. PSU engages 4,000 students per year in Senior Capstones, which is unparalleled by other institutions.

Real-World Complexity

 Capstone courses are interdisciplinary, which encourages students to address complex real-world problems from multiple perspectives and multiple disciplines.

Partnerships

 The PSU model for community partnerships that support Capstones employs long-term relationships between PSU and community-based organizations.

Legal Issues

 PSU has provided leadership in implementing service-learning standards for legal and liability issues.

From USNWR

 "Whether they're called a senior capstone or some other name, these culminating experiences ask students nearing the end of their college years to create a project of some sort that integrates and synthesizes what they've learned. The project might be a thesis, a performance, or an exhibit of artwork."

Learning Communities

General Education

 PSU's general education program, University Studies, is required for the majority of its students. University Studies is a four-year, integrated, interdisciplinary program focusing on students in learning communities. It is unusual for this kind of experience to be required for students in a large urban institution. It is also unusual for Learning Community programs to go beyond one semester or one term.

Four Goals

 The program is based on four goals: inquiry and critical thinking; communication; the diversity of human experience; social responsibility and ethical issues, and uses thematic courses to address these goals.

Assessment

 Assessment of student learning, embedded in the first, second, and senior year, is based on the evaluation of student portfolios.

Freshman Year

 The required course for first-year entering students, Freshman Inquiry, is a year-long "learning community" that integrates the traditional first year seminar within a rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum.

Interdisciplinary

 The Freshman Inquiry curriculum is team-designed and taught by faculty in partnership with undergraduate student mentors, each from a different discipline.

Sophomore Year

 Sophomore Inquiry, the gateway course to the upper division clusters, is taught by faculty partnered with graduate student mentors.

Community Building

 Both Freshman Inquiry and Sophomore Inquiry are structured with main class sessions of no more than 36 students and smaller mentor sessions of no more than 14 students. This model supports community building, increased student learning and enhanced university connections.

Community-Based Capstone

 The Senior Capstone courses are interdisciplinary learning communities of students, faculty and community partners. Each course addresses a real community issue or need and requires a final product that addresses that need.

Active Learning

 The design of University Studies was based on research about enhanced student learning. It was and continues to be faculty and student driven. It integrates active student learning pedagogies throughout the four-year curriculum.

From USNWR

 "Students typically take two or more linked courses as a group and get to know one another and their professors especially well. The idea is to keep the discussions going after class ends."

Service Learning

The Numbers

 PSU offers over 400 community-based learning courses, partners with more than 400 community partners annually and places more than 6,500 students in community-university partnerships each year.

National Awards

 PSU was recently awarded three prestigious national awards:
  • The 2002 Theodore M. Hesburgh Award Certificate of Excellence for Enhancing Undergraduate Teaching and Learning
  • The first ever Corporation for National and Community Service: Higher Education Award for Leadership in National Service
  • The 2002 winner of The Urban Impact Award given by the Council of the Great City Schools and The Council of the Great City Colleges of Education

Institutional Mandate

 PSU is one of the only higher education institutions in the country to have a service-learning requirement for all undergraduates.

Scholarship and Research

 Students and faculty are involved in community-based scholarship in both curriculum and research programs as the primary means to achieve the university mission.

Partnerships

 PSU community-university partnerships vary greatly from profit to not-for-profit organizations. Examples of these include (but are not limited to): Nike, Intel, Honda and Precision Castparts; city, county, regional and state governments; homeless shelters, environmental organizations and refugee service organizations; and, educational institutions such as public schools and museums.

Community Service

 In addition to the many hundred community-based learning courses, faculty and staff serve on community advisory boards, a number of community-oriented research institutes on campus, and a number of curricular programs that require substantial internship commitments.

From USNWR

 "In service-learning programs, volunteering in the community is an instructional strategya requirement of a student's coursework. The service relates to what happens in class, and vice versa."

For more information on community-based learning at Portland State University, please contact PSU's Center for Academic Excellence: 503-725-5642 or cae@pdx.edu.