Every fall, new Huskies arrive at the 天美影视传媒 鈥� curious, driven and a little nervous. More than 25% of our first-year students are the first in their families to seek a four-year degree. Of the UW鈥檚 undergraduate population, 55% receive financial aid, 74% are Washington state residents, representing all 39 Washington counties. Throughout their undergraduate journey, thousands will plug into research and community engagement, gaining experience and developing character traits that prepare them for their future.
Why should you care? Because it鈥檚 not just about current students. What happens at the 天美影视传媒 doesn鈥檛 stay on campus. In just a few fast years, undergraduates will leave with more than a diploma: They鈥檒l carry with them the persistence, empathy and civic responsibility our workplaces, communities and democracy demand.
We readily see the ripple effects of undergraduate education, from the alum who teaches your child multiplication, to the nurse who cares for your parent, or the software engineer at your office who solves a thorny problem. However, undergraduate experiences beyond the classroom, like research, community engagement and leadership education have the potential to become difference-makers for students and the world they graduate into. They enliven and animate classroom experiences and bring students into the breadth and depth of the UW, one of America鈥檚 leading research universities. Teaching the next generation the foundations of research and service for the public good matters to Washington state residents personally, publicly, profoundly for decades to come.
Research, community engagement and leadership education 鈥� the areas we focus on in our work 鈥斅� are integral to students鈥� career preparation and teach skills, habits and mindsets that AI can鈥檛 generate. Undergraduate researchers learn persistence, flex the muscle that discerns fact from fiction, apply knowledge across a range of complex problems, and so much more. Students who learn to lead through communities wrangle with ethics, deepen their self-awareness, practice respectful dialogue, and develop a sustained commitment to our civic spaces.
One undergraduate researcher explored how people diagnosed with Alzheimer鈥檚 feel about different interventions and saw firsthand how those facing this disease have different opinions and approaches to the idea of memories. She was surprised to learn that some viewed forgetting as a gift. She plans on taking the lesson of being curious about different perspectives to her journalism career.
Another undergraduate volunteered in schools, helping students apply to post-secondary education. In this service and leadership work, he practiced public speaking and community-listening skills. He鈥檚 brought these skills to his law career representing victims of crime. He learned that listening and effective communication builds trust between communities and the justice system.
Let鈥檚 look at the big picture again. By 2031, an estimated 72% of jobs will require education beyond high school. Students who take part in research, community engagement and leadership education are more likely to persist to graduation. These opportunities help students articulate their why, which sets them apart in scholarship applications, job interviews, graduate school applications and more. More than two-thirds of UW graduates stay in Washington state. Undergraduate research, community engagement and leadership development teach the habits of heart and mind we should expect from our business community, politicians, civic leaders and the neighbors next door.
Summer鈥檚 over and fall is here. We are delighted to begin again 鈥� as we do at the start of every new school year 鈥� with this newest group of Huskies. We can鈥檛 wait to see what inspires them within and beyond the classroom and, most importantly, how they will contribute to the world beyond them. There is no time like the present, for their future and ours.
Fran Lo is the executive director of the Community Engagement and Leadership Education Center at the UW. Sophie Pierszalowski is the director of the UW鈥檚 Office of Undergraduate Research.