95% of students who have completed community engaged learning courses at the University of Iowa agree that community engagement helped them better connect to their academic studies.

Community engaged learning is a pedagogical approach to teaching courses that integrates community engagement into coursework. Often called service learning, community engaged learning is a broader term used to describe the creation of mutually beneficial partnerships that go beyond direct service (e.g. cleaning up a community garden or tutoring youth) to deepen students' academic and civic learning.

The Office of Community Engagement (OCE) supports community engaged learning through trainings and resources for course and syllabus creation, partnership development, project management, reflection and assessment, and community-engaged learning scholarship. Additional resources and technical assistance for faculty, staff and students is provided through partnerships with other campus units including the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies and the Office of the Vice-President for Research.