KAHULUI - The Corporation for National and Community Service honored Maui Community College recently with a place on the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America's communities.

Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service learning and civic engagement, according to a news release from the college.

Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors, including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.

Through such courses, nearly 100 students at Maui Community College participate in meaningful community service experiences that instill academic learning, personal growth and civic responsibility.

The college has partnerships established with more than 40 local nonprofit organizations, including Maui Nui Botanical Gardens, American Heart Association and American Lung Association.

Two programs launched by Maui Community College received recognition. Those included a tutoring program at the nearby Harbor Lights Condominiums in Kahului and a program in which college students and Hispanic residents tutor one another in English and Spanish.

For more than two years, MCC students studying a variety of majors provide weekly mentoring and tutoring to more than 50 at-risk children who are residents of Harbor Lights.

"In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever. College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges," said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chairman of the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the Honor Roll.

"We salute Maui Community College for making community service a campus priority, and thank the millions of college students who are helping to renew America through service to others."

Recent studies have underscored the importance of service learning and volunteering to college students.

In 2006, 2.8 million college students gave more than 297 million hours of volunteer service, according to the Corporation's Volunteering in America 2007 study.

Overall, the corporation honored six schools with Presidential Awards. In addition, 83 were named as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 546 schools as Honor Roll members. Hawaii Technology Institute in Honolulu is the only other school in the state named to the Honor Roll.

Nationally, 635 schools were recognized.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering.

The corporation administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America, a program that supports service learning in schools, institutions of higher education and community-based organizations.