USC Joint Educational Project | 2023 Presidential Medallion Honoree

The USC Joint Educational Project (JEP) is a service-learning and community engagement program that offers USC students hands-on experience serving nearby schools, community-based organizations, health-care facilities and legal clinics. Established in 1972, JEP is one of the oldest and largest service-learning programs in the United States, with programs that enroll more than 2,000 Trojans every year.

JEP is home to the USC ReadersPlus program, which trains Trojans to become reading and math tutors for children; a Trojan-taught STEM Education Programs that bring hands-on and inquiry-based STEM experiences, to students in the community; and the Peace Project, which trains USC students in a peace education curriculum that they bring into classrooms.

Little Yoginis is a JEP program that provides elementary school children with yoga instruction, led by Trojans. JEP’s Understanding Homelessness Through Service program pairs university students with organizations like Chrysalis to offer assistance to individuals experiencing unemployment, homelessness and food insecurity. And through JEP, Trojans have the opportunity to gain pre-professional legal and health/medical experience as volunteers in local health clinics, hospitals and law clinics.

USC faculty benefit from JEP by being able to add experiential learning components to their curriculum. And students who participate in JEP programs have the benefit of becoming well-educated, mature, and empathetic leaders who are excited to return to campus as alumni and continue to give back.

Since its founding more than 50 years ago, JEP’s impact has been significant. Over 100,000 USC students have enrolled in JEP assignments, providing over a million hours of service to schools. JEP’s programs have also benefited local community members by providing valuable support to schools, community-based organizations, and health-care facilities that are often underfunded and short-staffed. JEP has been honored with numerous awards and recognitions for its contributions to the field of service-learning and community engagement. As an organization open to students of all schools and majors, JEP’s innovative programs also were a main reason that USC was named “College of the Year” by Time magazine in 2000.