Undergraduates often express that they feel powerless to help solve important challenges such as climate change and environmental degradation, consistent with the broader phenomena of ecoparalysis. Viewed through value-expectancy frameworks for motivation, value for an outcome and self-efficacy to achieve it lead to goals, which motivate engagement. This study evaluates the impact of a community-engaged course unit, versus a unit without a community-engaged component, in a general-education university environmental science course in the United States on student expressions of environmental value, self-efficacy, and goals. Qualitative analysis of written reflections reveals enhancements in students’ pro-environmental values, environmental problem-solving self-efficacy, and environmentally-related goals. Paired quantitative analysis comparing code frequencies in reflections (n = 37) show statistically significant enhancements in environmental value (p = .00013, Cohen’s d = 0.930) and self-efficacy (p = .00082, d = 0.807). These outcomes suggest community-engaged coursework can help reduce students’ ecoparalysis and motivate them to engage in pro-environmental action beyond the bounds of the course.