Purdue recognized with 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University has once again earned national recognition for its longstanding commitment to partnering with communities by way of the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Classification from the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

A premier designation for U.S. universities that collaborate closely with their larger communities, Purdue received its first classification in 2008, and has also been recognized for its broader engagement efforts by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

“More than ever before, our faculty, staff and students are embracing new opportunities to engage, collaborate and partner with the communities we serve,” said Purdue Provost Patrick Wolfe. “As Indiana’s land-grant university and one of our nation’s premier research institutions, we take special pride in the deep and sustained working partnerships we have long cultivated with our immediate neighbors, state and region.”

The application process was led by Purdue’s Office of Engagement, which convened a campuswide task force in 2024 to collect data and document practices and engagement activity across the university. This work helped meet the classification’s thorough self-study and review process, which required Purdue to demonstrate the ways in which community engagement is embedded into its mission, leadership, culture, resources and practices.

“Purdue builds on industry partnerships and strategic collaboration to drive innovation, support workforce demands and contribute to economic development, said Dimitrios Peroulis, Purdue senior vice president for partnerships and online. “This recognition is a reflection of Purdue’s strategy of cultivating relationships and strengthening partnerships as we work toward making significant contributions to our society.”

Purdue students annually contribute more than 11,500 hours of community service, while faculty and staff advance approximately $500 million in community-engaged grant proposals within a six-month period, reflecting the scale and institutional integration of engagement across the university.

“The reclassification process revealed just how deeply community engagement is embedded across Purdue University, reaching communities across the region, the state, the nation and beyond,” said Roberto Gallardo, Purdue vice president for engagement. “This recognition reflects Purdue’s land-grant mission in action by advancing discovery, learning and engagement through meaningful partnerships that create real-world impact.”

A listing of all the institutions currently holding the classification endorsement is available online.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 106,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 57,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its integrated, comprehensive Indianapolis urban expansion; the Mitch Daniels School of Business; Purdue Computes; and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.