Academic researchers are increasingly called upon to engage public audiences outside the academic sphere in order to communicate scholarly findings and raise awareness of empirical evidence. Graduate programs are increasingly aware of this need, yet most focus almost exclusively on research skills training. When public engagement training is offered, it is usually brief and focused narrowly on dissemination of scientific knowledge—an approach known to be less effective. This presentation describes findings from a mixed-methods research study examining the impacts of a multi-tiered graduate education curriculum in Public Engagement with Science (PEWS) based on extensive community partnership and interdisciplinary collaboration. Specifically, Engaging Science is a three-level interdisciplinary curriculum sequence for graduate students consisting of: (Level 1) an intensive two-day session providing hands-on PEWS experience at a museum; (Level 2) a semester-long course including multi-disciplinary team projects carried out with community organizations; and (Level 3) an application-based fellowship working with a community organization facilitated by faculty and peer mentorship, culminating in an independent PEWS project. Through surveys, focus groups, and interviews with graduate students, this interdisciplinary research project explores the transformative potential of the Engaging Science curriculum to: (1) equip graduate students to engage public audiences in a meaningful, robust way, (2) encourage collaboration across disciplines, and (3) support the success of graduate students through opportunities for community engagement. Findings suggest that the transformative potential of Engaging Science is rooted in its innovative approach to PEWS instruction that goes beyond mere dissemination of scientific findings to emphasize reciprocal interaction addressing a range of critical issues including scientific processes, trust in science, the cultivation of awe, and a sense of belonging within the physical, biological, behavioral, and social sciences.