Program Overview

BA in Leadership & Community Engagement

The BA in Leadership & Community Engagement is an innovative Bachelor's Degree program that integrates college courses with work in real-world settings. This major helps students develop as culturally responsive and ethical leaders who collaborate with community partners to tackle society’s big challenges. The major builds on expertise in the School of Education to help students understand how people learn, how to bring about lasting social change, and how to measure impact.

Program Features

• A close-knit learning community, where students receive personal support and experience small classes with the same group of classmates throughout their college experience
• Community-based learning opportunities in each year of study
• Focus on social justice
• Advanced coursework in community-based research methods and learning sciences
• The option to pair the degree with a secondary area of study, which can be a second major, a minor, or a certificate program

Program Structure

The Leadership and Community Engagement Major is housed in the School of Education. The major has a distinct approach and a more intensive curriculum, focusing on developing students as leaders who work with communities to build the collective capacity to address public challenges. Because the focus is on working with people, students study the science of how people learn and are engaged in public life. This educational frame is then put into a larger context of investigating different approaches to bring about social change. In the senior capstone, students work in teams to design, implement, and evaluate a project that makes a major public impact.

Admission and Enrollment

The Leadership and Community Engagement Major is a four-year degree program open to incoming first-year students and transfer students. Students interested in the major should choose it when applying to CU Boulder. The dual degree program allows students to major in Leadership and Community Engagement simultaneously with one of several other majors, including Anthropology, Ethnic Studies, Geography, Political Science, Sociology, Women and Gender Studies, Asian Studies, English, Jewish Studies, Philosophy, and Spanish or Portuguese.

Comparison with the Leadership Studies Minor

The major and the minor share a commitment to developing students as culturally responsive and ethical leaders through rigorous academics and real-world experiences. However, the Leadership and Community Engagement Major has a distinct approach and a more intensive curriculum, focusing on developing students as leaders who work with communities to build the collective capacity to address public challenges. Given these distinctions, students in the Leadership and Community Engagement Major are unable to declare the Leadership Studies Minor in addition to the major.

Career Opportunities

The BA in Leadership & Community Engagement can help launch careers in nonprofit organizations, K-12 or higher education settings, international development, urban planning, social work, or government organizations, as well as further graduate studies. The program provides students with over 200 hours of real-world experience working in the community and with local leaders before graduation.

Additional Information

For more information about program requirements and courses, students can refer to the CU Boulder Course Catalog. The School of Education is committed to advancing democracy, diversity, equity, and justice, and invites students to explore its bachelor's degrees and minors as important pathways toward transformative careers as a leader in the classroom and an activist in the community.

Undergraduate Programs

• BA in Elementary Education
• BA in Leadership & Community Engagement
• BA in Middle and High School Teaching
• BA in Education Studies
• Education Minor
• Leadership Studies Minor
• BAM in Ethnic Studies and Education

Graduate Programs

Information about graduate programs is available through the School of Education.

Teacher Licensure

Details about teacher licensure programs can be found through the School of Education.