The College and Mission Statement

Metro State is a comprehensive, baccalaureate- and master’s-degree granting, urban college that offers arts and sciences, professional and business courses and programs to a diverse student population in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Excellence in teaching and learning is Metro State’s primary objective.

Mission

Metro State’s mission is to provide a high-quality, accessible, enriching education that prepares students for successful careers, post-graduate education and lifelong learning in a multicultural, global and technological society. To fulfill its mission, Metro State’s diverse college community engages the community at large in scholarly inquiry, creative activity and the application of knowledge.

Master’s Programs

Metro State offers advanced degrees in three graduate programs:  Master of Professional Accountancy, Master of Social Work, and Master of Arts in Teaching with concentrations in Elementary Education and Special Education to a diverse population in an atmosphere of mutual respect.  The master’s programs are professionally-oriented degrees that will help to prepare students for success and accommodate graduates’ increased engagement with community needs. Excellence in teaching and learning is Metro State’s primary objective.  Students interested in the master’s programs should refer to the Graduate Catalog for details.

Undergraduate Programs

With its modified, open admissions policy, the College welcomes students from all walks of life and circumstances, including all levels of academic preparation consistent with statutory guidelines, all conditions of economic and income status, all ages, and all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In addition to degree-seeking students, non-degree students seeking opportunities for continuing education are welcomed.

• Metro State is required to serve adult students. Students who are 20 years of age or older and hold a GED or high school diploma are automatically admitted to Metro State, irrespective of their academic record.
• Metro State is required to serve traditional-age students of all levels of achievement and potential. As a result, the College enrolls a rich mix of recent high school graduates and transfer students, many with excellent grades and test scores and others with more modest achievements.
• Metro State is required to be accessible to all citizens. That is why, with its tuition remaining among the lowest in the state, Metro State is Colorado’s best value in education.

The College is primarily a teaching institution where excellence in teaching and learning is accorded the highest priority. Student success, supported in a collegial atmosphere of academic freedom, is of paramount importance, and all members of the college community seek to inspire students to strive for the highest level of achievement. The College endeavors to provide students with an education that enhances the quality of their lives and enables them to be well-educated, critically thinking citizens who contribute and participate in meaningful ways in community and civic life.

At the undergraduate level, the College awards bachelor of science, bachelor of arts, bachelor of fine arts, bachelor of music and bachelor of music education degrees. Students may choose from 55 majors, 90 minors, and 40 certificate programs offered through three schools: Business; Letters, Arts and Sciences; and Professional Studies. Programs range from the traditional disciplines, such as history and biology, to contemporary fields of study, such as environmental science and computer information systems. The College offers several bachelor’s degree programs unique in Colorado, including aviation management, health care management, land use, meteorology, and integrated therapeutic practices. Students may also design their own degree through the Individualized Degree Program.

As an urban college committed to serving the local community, Metro State attracts students from a diverse mixture of age groups, socioeconomic classes, ethnic backgrounds and lifestyles. The College’s curriculum and philosophy reflect that diversity and enrich the urban experience.

Current enrollment as of Fall 2009 is 22,904. Students range in age from 16 to 70 with a median age of 23. Metro State enrolls the highest number of students of color (more than 6,800 in fall 2010, 28 percent of its student population) of all four-year colleges in the state.

About sixty-three percent of students are enrolled full time, with fifty-seven percent of the students being 24 years old or younger. Ninety-four percent of students reside in the seven county area of the Denver metropolitan area:

Metro State has more than 500 full-time faculty. Professors are recruited and evaluated for their ability to teach and engage students. All classes are taught by academic instructors. As a culturally diverse team of academicians, 46 percent of full-time faculty are women, and 23 percent represent ethnic minorities.

The College also brings real-world education into the classroom by hiring affiliate faculty who work in the Denver metropolitan community and use their expertise and experience in the arts, business, communication, law, politics, the sciences and technology in their teaching.

Metropolitan State College of Denver is located at the Auraria Higher Education Center, a 127-acre campus in downtown Denver at Speer Boulevard and West Colfax Avenue. The Community College of Denver and the University of Colorado Denver share the facilities with Metro State.

The campus includes more than one million square feet of space for classrooms, laboratories and offices. Some administrative offices are located in restored Victorian homes in Denver’s historic Ninth Street Park located on the Auraria site. The campus also features a child care center; a comprehensive, 184,000 square-foot library designed by Helmut Jahn of CF Murphy, which won an award from the American Institute of Architects; and one of the most unusual student union facilities in the country located in the historic, Bavarian-style Tivoli Brewery Building. Excellent physical fitness facilities include a block-long physical education/events center with a swimming pool, weight room, game courts, dance studios, a climbing wall, and event seating for 3,000.

The Auraria Higher Education Center’s proximity to downtown Denver enables students and faculty to use the community as a learning laboratory and to connect classroom theory to the cultural, economic, social, and political practices of the city.

The College also has two satellite campus sites operated by the Extended Campus Program. Metro South, located at 5660 Greenwood Plaza Boulevard in Arapahoe County, serves the south, southeast, and southwest metropolitan areas. Metro North, located at 11990 Grant Street in Adams County, serves the north, northeast, and northwest areas. Each site is located 14 miles from the Auraria campus along the I-25 corridor.

A variety of courses are offered during the evenings and on Saturdays on the Auraria campus and at Metro South and Metro North. At least 16 degree programs can be completed by taking a combination of courses scheduled during the evenings, weekends and online. Metro State offers classes in traditional formats as well as telecourses, online courses and correspondence courses. General information about these programs can be obtained from the Office of Admissions or the Academic Advising Center.

Metro State offers several options for distance education: online courses, hybrid courses (online/classroom combination), telecourses and correspondence courses.

Online education (online and hybrid) is the fastest-growing, distance education option at Metro State with over 10,000 students registering for one or more online courses during the Spring 2011 semester. Metro State’s online courses tend to be small and highly interactive for both instructors and students. A student can complete General Studies Requirements online. For information about completing a major, minor, or certificate online, please contact the appropriate academic department. Please check with academic advisors and visit the Metro State website for more specific information about the online learning environment, recommended computer equipment, and other online services that are offered by the College (www.mscd.edu).