Community Engagement
Putting faith, learning, and Jesuit values into action — one community partnership at a time.
At Saint Joseph's University, community engagement is integral to who we are and how we learn. Rooted in the Jesuit values of cura personalis (care for the whole person), a commitment to a faith that does justice, and the call to be people with and for others, SJU is dedicated to building meaningful, reciprocal relationships with community partners where, together, we work toward the common good.
Our partnerships with more than 270 organizations span the local Philadelphia and Lancaster communities and extend around the world. Jesuit education values communities as collaborators and co-educators. Community engagement provides Saint Joseph's University students, faculty, and staff with the opportunity to learn with and from our partners as we live out our Jesuit mission. When SJU students, faculty and staff build mutually beneficial relationships with community partners, there is an exchange of knowledge, an appreciation of lived experiences of injustice and dignity, and a deepened understanding of our interdependence.
Saint Joseph’s Earns Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement, Joining 7% of Universities Nationwide
Saint Joseph's University has earned one of the most prestigious and coveted distinctions in all of American higher education — the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement (2026), awarded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. This honor is remarkably rare: of the thousands of colleges and universities across the United States, only about 7% currently hold this designation. It is not simply an award — it is a rigorous, evidence-based classification that requires institutions to undergo an extensive self-study and documentation process, demonstrating deep, authentic, and reciprocal community partnerships that are woven into the very fabric of the institution. Incredibly, this marks the third time Saint Joseph's has earned this recognition, cementing its standing as a national leader in community engagement — and for the first time, the designation now includes SJU's Lancaster and University City locations, reflecting the university's growing reach and impact.
We are incredibly proud of this distinction and the countless students, faculty, staff, and community partners whose dedication made it possible.
Our Partners
At Saint Joseph's University, we are grateful to work alongside an extraordinary and diverse network of more than 270 community partners. In our engaged-learning courses, experiences with community partner organizations are specific to the class topics and considered another text for students’ academic learning and professional development. Co-curricular engaged experiences provide members of the SJU student body the opportunity to immerse themselves in communities to better understand the injustices of marginalization, poverty and oppression alongside the strengths and knowledge of the communities. Our respective partners represent the full spectrum of community-centered work, responding to the areas of food insecurity, homelessness, education inequality, healthcare access, poverty, environmental injustice, immigration, incarceration, etc.