A GSC education means more than teaching students the right skills to find a good-paying job. It means guiding them to use their knowledge to lead a meaningful life. GSC does this successfully through fresh, innovative teaching methods - methods like service-learning.

Through service-learning, GSC is showing students a new way to lead a meaningful life and to lead others…by serving. But these long-term effects are just one part of the reason service-learning really works.

Improved Academic Performance

Students gain a higher level of understanding through hands-on community service, so they come away from the project understanding the real-world relevance of what they are learning in college.

Motivated Students

Students find the answer to the question, "Why do I need to learn this stuff, anyway?" They better retain knowledge they get from class through hands-on service-learning activities and become motivated to learn more.

Increased Service Impact

Through service-learning, the power of one is multiplied by the hundreds of students that all work toward a common goal. This increases the service activity's impact on the community, while the service activity increases the impact of class lessons on the student.

Better-Developed Leadership and Teamwork Skills

Becoming involved in the community not only meets needs in that community, but it diversifies the life experiences of the student. Service-learning encourages valuing the differences in people and in situations, therefore developing a stronger team mentality when it comes to community.

Increased Student Retention

Through service-learning, students gain high levels of motivation and interest. And with the service activity directly enforcing academic skills, service-learning leads to improved academic performance in students, which leads to greater student retention.

Enhanced Student Civic Responsibility

Service-learning helps students identify their roles as contributing citizens. Students are personally impacted by meeting a need in the community through their service-learning project, and they grow to understand the complexity of problems that exist in any community.

Directed Vocational Decision-Making

Through service-learning, students witness firsthand the effects of various skills in the community. They can explore many career paths and carefully select the right one for them, while also becoming committed to serving their community with their professional skills.