Houghton College (USA)

Houghton College is a Christian liberal arts college located in southwestern New York. It was founded as Houghton Seminary in 1883, and began offering college level classes in 1899. The founder was Willard J. Houghton, a Wesleyan Methodist minister. It was chartered as a liberal arts college by New York State in 1923 and accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in 1935. The school offers baccalaureate degrees in 48 fields as well as master’s degrees in several fields. Houghton strives to educate students from diverse traditions and economic backgrounds and equip them to lead and labor as scholar-servants in a changing world. Houghton College’s website>>

Office of Service-Learning

Community service and service-learning programs at Houghton are coordinated by the Office of Service-Learning. Service-Learning courses exist throughout the curriculum, as well as courses with optional service-learning components. For example, several foreign language courses include working with refugee populations to assist the refugees but also to gain valuable language skills and cultural understanding. Several education courses require students to work with students in local urban schools. The Office of Service-Learning also connects students with volunteering opportunities at both urban and rural local nonprofits. Non-profits with volunteering needs may contact the Office. Learn more>>

Office for Urban Connections

The Office for Urban Connections was established in 2006 to serve the needs of the community in Buffalo, New York. The office acts as the liaison between Houghton College, with its resources of students, faculty and staff, and a variety of organizations and agencies in Buffalo attempting to provide a better quality of life in a city that recently received the dubious distinction of being the second poorest major city (population of more than 250,000) in the United States. Learn more>>

AmeriCorps Partnership

Since 2000, Houghton College has partnered with the Western New York AmeriCorps program. Over 100 Houghton students or graduates have served as AmeriCorps volunteers with local organizations. Houghton has also collaborated with AmeriCorps to establish the Houghton College Urban and Rural Teacher Corps. Students in the teacher education program at Houghton College have a unique opportunity to serve and learn while student teaching in selected urban and rural school districts that have been designated by the New York State Education Department as "High Need School Districts." Learn more>>