Our Mission

To advance MSU's Research Intensive Land-Grant Mission by creating, disseminating, and applying knowledge to improve the quality of life in distressed urban and regional communities. We implement, evaluate, and disseminate innovative approaches through responsive engagement, strategic partnerships, and collaborative learning.


MSU in Your Community

Michigan State University is the nation's premier land-grant university, and in that tradition, the MSU Community and Economic Development Program (CEDP) is committed to developing and applying knowledge to address the needs of contemorary society. Specifically, our mission is "to advance MSU's Land-Grant Mission by Creating disseminating, and applying knowledge to improve the quality of life in distressed urban and regional communities. We implement, evaluate, and disseminate innovative approaches through responsive engagement, strategic partnerships, and collaborative learning."

In carrying out the mission of the CEDP we:
  • Create and suppor an innovative learning environment for collaborative learning in Community & Economic Development
  • Provide training and direct assistance designed to increase the capabilities of community-based organizations, private enterprises and public institutions
  • Conduct research that assists in the development and implementation of effective problem-solving strategies
  • Provide a multidisciplinary capacity to respond to the complex, interrelated to issues of distressed communities
  • Promote and expand MSU's capacity to provide needed training, direct assistance, and research to address issues of communities.

How the CEDP Reaches Out to Your Community

The CEDP was established as an off campus unit of MSU in downtown Lansing Michigan in 1969. Since that time, the CEDP has developed its outreach scholarship into Michigan and has a statewide capacity to initiate and support innovative problem-solving strategies to improve the quality of life in communities throughout Michigan.

The Community and Economic Development Program is a unit within MSU Urban and Regional Planning in the School of Planning, Design and Construction. The CEDP provides a multidisciplinary capacity to respond to the complex, interrelated issues of communities and provides an innovative learning environment for collaborative learning in community and economic development.