SAN DIEGO, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Six colleges and universities today received presidential recognition for extraordinary contributions to service in their communities in the second annual 2007 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. David Eisner, Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service, announced the awards at the annual meeting of the American Council on Education.

Three of the schools -- Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Pennsylvania -- received Presidential Awards for General Community Service. Chaminade University of Honolulu, Syracuse University and the University of Redlands in Redlands, Calif., were recognized for Service to Youth from Disadvantaged Circumstances, a special focus area of this year's Honor Roll competition.

"College students are tackling the toughest problems in America, demonstrating their compassion, commitment, and creativity in by serving as mentors, tutors, health workers, and even engineers," Eisner said. "They represent a renewed spirit of civic engagement fostered by outstanding leadership on caring campuses."

The Honor Roll is jointly sponsored by the Corporation, through its Learn and Serve America program, and the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, Campus Compact, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.

In congratulating the winners, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said, "Americans rely on our higher education system to prepare students for citizenship and the workforce. We look to institutions like these to provide leadership in partnering with local schools to shape the civic, democratic and economic future of our country."
In all, 528 schools were listed on the Honor Roll for their community service activities during the 2006-2007 academic year. This year, new Special Achievement Awards for outstanding service by minority serving institutions and community colleges were presented to Lake Area Technical Institute, Watertown, S.D; Raritan Valley Community College, Somerville, N.J.; Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, N.C.; and California State University, Fresno. In addition, the Honor Roll also recognized 127 schools as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 391 schools as Honor Roll members.

A full list is available at http://www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll