St. Edward's University was recently named to the 2007 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. This distinction recognizes the university's leadership in helping build a culture of service and civic engagement on campus. During the 2006-2007 school year, 1,133 St. Edward's University students were engaged in service learning projects totaling 32,532 hours.

Students participated in programs such as Campus Ministry's Alternative Spring Break and Peru Immersion which provides students an opportunity to work with and learn from the those in need. The Big Event, a university-wide community service initiative, also draws a large student turnout to provide services to neighborhoods, schools and churches that are in close proximity to St. Edward's University.

The Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and is sponsored by the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, the USA Freedom Corps, and the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development. Learn more about the Corporation for National and Community Service.

The President's Honor Roll recognizes institutions of higher education that support innovative, effective and exemplary community service programs. Honorees were selected based on a series of factors, including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers service-learning courses.

In congratulating the winners, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said, "Americans rely on our higher education system to prepare students for citizenship and the workforce. We look to institutions like these to provide leadership in partnering with local schools to shape the civic, democratic and economic future of our country."

Recent studies have underlined the importance of service-learning and volunteering for college students. In 2006, 2.8 million college students gave more than 297 million hours of volunteer service, according to the Corporation's Volunteering in America 2007 study.