Our Mission and Values

Our mission is to increase equity and excellence in college completion through engaging, supportive, rigorous, and socially responsive education.

We believe that education...

  • is a public good,
  • is critical for a functioning multi-cultural democracy,
  • is a tool to help dismantle long-standing oppression,
  • empowers historically marginalized students to become impactful leaders for social justice.

Metro is a data-informed comprehensive retention and equity program that has redesigned the first two years of higher education. In Metro, students join career-themed learning communities that follow core GE pathways. Wraparound services and faculty 'coaches' support students in every step of their educational journey.  Metro's faculty community works together to develop supportive classroom practices and engaged pedagogy methods, with a passion for learning, social justice, and student success.

Diagram of Metro program components
Our students come to us with brilliance and beauty and a wealth of skills and capital. Our job is to recognize, uplift, and foster their genius and full authentic selves."
- Mary Beth Love, Co-Founder of Metro

Female students raising hands enthusiastically
Students writing on white board
Three smiling Metro graduates in cap and gown
Our students are our super - power!
student
Our voices matter and we can create change!" - Metro Student

Our Values

circle of people

COMMUNITY

We welcome our students in a supportive community. We cultivate communal spaces that celebrate our cultural wisdom and help us grow as scholars and activists.

Person with hands raised and leaves flourishing around them

REIMAGINE

Together, we reimagine an educational system where all students thrive, not just survive. We see education as a mechanism for collective liberation and healing, and ultimately a thriving multicultural democracy.

hands clasped together to form a heart

LOVE

Our work is guided by acts of radical, decolonial love. With love, we see and honor the brilliance of our young scholars and foster their collective dignity.

hands holding up earth

EQUITY

We commit to our students and our communities. We commit to understanding and dismantling educational injustices, in solidarity with all oppressed peoples.

four hands holding each other at the wrist in support

SOLIDARITY

In solidarity with our students and communities, we aim to transform higher education to become a catalyst for deeper social change.

raised fist

JUSTICE

We work with urgency for intersectional social justice. We embrace and celebrate the many intersecting identities of our young scholars and understand that all forms of justice are interconnected.