Three different rankings have recently named Warren Wilson College as one of the nation’s top 10 colleges for service.

Warren Wilson was ranked No. 9 for service learning by U.S. News & World Report, No. 7 for community service by Washington Monthly and No. 6 for most engaged in community service by The Princeton Review.

Community engagement is a graduation requirement at Warren Wilson and one part of an intentional effort the college is making to prepare students for lives of engaged citizenship. Together students contribute more than 50,000 hours of service to local nonprofit organizations throughout the year.

“Warren Wilson College has a very long history of community engagement as well as a long-standing, deep sense of civic responsibility,” said Dr. Lynn Morton, president of Warren Wilson College. “These rankings recognize our intentional effort to prepare students to lead purposeful lives and make a difference in their communities.”

Morton recently joined the Executive Board of North Carolina Campus Compact, a statewide network of colleges and universities with a shared commitment to civic engagement. Campus Compact is currently involved in initiatives such as helping with the national census, encouraging voter registration and fostering deliberative dialogue.

Through Campus Compact, Warren Wilson has adopted a civic action plan that commits the school to claim civic identity as the central focus of a Warren Wilson education.

Using a “civic identity model,” the college integrates civic engagement into all aspects of students’ learning experience, from the classroom to their work crews to service opportunities.

“We’re doing something that feels aspirational to other colleges, and that speaks to students,” said Dr. Langdon Martin, chair of the chemistry and physics department at Warren Wilson. “Teaching civic identity means teaching students how to be in relationships that are bigger than themselves, and how to work for the common good.”

The service rankings are a few of several national acknowledgments Warren Wilson recently received. The school was also ranked as one of the top 20 “Best Buy” colleges by the Fiske Guide to Colleges and No. 11 for “LGBTQ-Friendly” by The Princeton Review.