As part of the Honors College mission to develop service-minded citizens, a minimum of 30 hours of approved service work is required of each Honors College student to be completed within their first three years*. Honors College students are eligible to begin submitting hours to the HC Community Service Learning Requirement Verification Form on their first day of classes as an undergraduate student, unless there are eligible HC Serves-sponsored events during Welcome Week before classes after students move in. Each Honors College student is required to submit a minimum of 30 approved hours by May 1 of their junior year or 1 year before their expected graduation date as an Honors College Scholar.
*Legacy students may have altered different hours requirement; see below.
What Counts Toward the Requirement
The HC Community Service Learning Requirement can be credit or non-credit bearing; paid internships or work will not fulfill the service requirement. Additionally, work completed for the Capstone requirement may not count towards the Community Service Learning Requirement.
There is no maximum of service hours you can acquire within the Rutgers and New Brunswick/surrounding communities (East Brunswick, North Brunswick, Highland Park, Piscataway, and Edison). You may earn all 30 service hours through Rutgers and New Brunswick/surrounding community service opportunities, though it is encouraged you look into additional opportunities.
A maximum of 20 hours total can come from a community service opportunity outside of Rutgers and New Brunswick/surrounding communities or from remote/virtual service work. To verify whether an opportunity will count towards your total or if you have a general question about community service, you may contact a Program Director at HCServes@echo.rutgers.edu.
Below is a simple chart of minimum and maximum hourly limits for each type of community service when you are required to undertake 30 TOTAL Honors Service Hours..
If you are a Legacy Honors College student (who entered prior to September 2025), your HC Service Hours requirement does not change. Likewise, Legacy Engineering Honors Academy students also retain their original service requirement and your hours are being transferred into our system; however, you will need to submit all future service work to the HC Community Service Learning Requirement Verification Form.
Logging Service Hours
In order to get credit for your service, you must independently log your hours on the HC Community Service Requirement Verification Form. On the form, you will need to include the name of a supervisor or advisor who can verify that you completed your service; they may be contacted to confirm your service with them.
For an ongoing/recurring service opportunity, you can either submit one form with the total hours of service for this opportunity and list the dates in the description of service or you can log your hours individually per date.
Please note that, in any circumstance, all Honors College students are responsible for logging their service work to the Verification Form. The Honors College cannot submit on your behalf, and will only be responsible for the verification and approval process.
Service Hours Portal
All students can view progress towards their Community Service Learning Requirement on the HC Community Service Record Portal.
Honors College Sponsored Service
The Honors College is excited to offer engaging community service programs through our Community Service Division with the student-led Honors Programming Committee and other student- and faculty-led events. You may view upcoming events in the Honors College Calendar of Events and keeping posted to our weekly Inside The Honors College newsletter.
Changemaking Points
As of September 2025, Changemaking Points no longer exist. All programs previously counting for Changemaking Points should now be logged under HC Serves Hours.
Deadlines
Listed below are deadlines for the HC Community Service Learning Requirement based on graduation date. Please note that the graduation dates are based on the completion of your four-year degree (if you are graduating early, you are still expected to complete the requirement a year prior to your graduation date). EMSOP students are required to complete the service requirement by May 1st of their junior/third year.
- Graduating January 2026: January 1, 2025
- Graduating May 2026: May 1, 2025
- Graduating January 2027: January 1, 2026
- Graduating May 2027: May 1, 2026
- Graduating January 2028: January 1, 2027
- Graduating May 2028: May 1, 2027
- Graduating January 2029: January 1, 2028
- Graduating May 2029: May 1, 2029
Switching to New Curriculum
If you were part of the School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program (including RBS), Engineering Academy, or School of Environmental and Biological Sciences Honors Program prior to September 2025 and have switched to the new curriculum, the above deadlines remain accurate, but your hourly requirement is adjusted. You may submit up to 10 backdated service hours undertaken between September 1, 2023 and September 1, 2025.
- Graduating January/May 2026: 20 hours (at least 10 should be HC Serves Hours). Must complete all hours within the Fall 2025 semester (including back-dated hours).
- Graduating January/May 2027: 20 hours (at least 10 should be HC Serves Hours). Must complete hours be the end of Spring 2026 semester.
- Graduating January/May 2028: 30 hours (at least 10 should be HC Serves Hours). Must complete hours be the end of Spring 2027 semester.
Class of 2026 or 2027 (20 total hours):
Class of 2028 (30 total hours):
Become a "Changemaker" with 100+ Hours of Service
The Honors College is committed to creating a culture of community service and we encourage you to continue logging your service hours even after you have met the requirement. If you log over 100 hours of service by April 15 before the semester in which you graduate, you will receive a Changemaker status marker in their annual Honors College Scholars Convocation program and receive a special prize from the Honors College.
HC Student Leaders & Service Hours
Select Honors College Student Leader positions allow students to log hours earned through their leadership program. Please consult with your direct Honors College professional staff supervisor about how many hours you may earn. Student Leaders are expected to log their hours earned based on what their direct supervisor notifies them of by April 15 of each academic year. Hours will not be logged on your behalf.
Service Opportunities
Featured Service Opportunities
All hours of service completed at Rutgers University or in the New Brunswick/surrounding community will count toward a student's 30 total hours of community service.
Not Approved for Service Hours
The following events and programs DO NOT count for service hours. You will find clarifications for each of the commonly logged types of service that have not counted for community service hours.
Additional Opportunity Hours
Additional opportunity hours will count for a maximum of 20 hours toward a student's 30 total hours of service.