Metro State empowers students to create their own success by providing relevant, academic experiences through its unique attributes:
- Outstanding, committed faculty with a passion for teaching
- Student-centered learning
- A personalized classroom experience, with more student/faculty interaction
- An urban location—in the heart of downtown Denver—that expands perspectives and experiences
- Real-world, 21st century career preparation through a blend of theory and applied learning
- A commitment to community collaboration
One of the largest public baccalaureate colleges in the country, Metro State has experienced steady enrollment increases in nine of the past 10 years. More transfer students enroll at Metro State than any other college or university in the state. At the same time, few students transfer from Metro State to other institutions. In addition, nearly 300,000 Coloradans have taken classes at Metro State for career advancement and personal enrichment.
Metro State boasts more than 61,000 alumni, 90 percent of whom stay in Colorado after graduation. These graduates put their education to work as teachers, business owners, pilots, scientists, nurses and more, as well as entering graduate school to study medicine, law and other disciplines requiring advanced degrees.
A Bold Goal
With a long-term goal of becoming the preeminent public urban baccalaureate college in the nation, Metro State has a solid foundation of excellence:
- Criminal Justice and Criminology, the only program of its kind in the state, has graduates who are or have been the police chiefs in most of Colorado’s large cities. The Aviation and Aerospace Science program is the fifth largest in the country and offers the only four-year degree in the state. A recent $1.5 million donation of technologically sophisticated commercial aerospace software is preparing students to work in Colorado’s aerospace industry, the second-largest space economy in the nation. Metro State is the leader in undergraduate teacher education in the state.
- The quality of Metro State faculty, staff and students is evidenced in the awards they garner. In the past two years, four faculty members were named Fulbright Scholars, the student newspaper won national awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, one student was named Colorado Up-and-Coming Nonprofit Professional of the Year and another received a national award for activism.
- Metro State collaborates with local organizations to solve community problems while providing our students with valuable, real-world experience. For example, the Center for Innovation at Metro State sponsors entrepreneurial initiatives in the community, including the 2007 Community Music School, in which Metro State music majors teach Denver school kids to play musical instruments, and a co-teaching partnership with Jefferson County Schools.
- In addition to four national championships (women’s soccer: 2004 and 2006, men’s basketball: 2000 and 2002), Metro State student-athletes have some of the highest graduation rates in the country. For example, 92 percent of our men’s basketball team players graduate, compared to the NCAA average of 43 percent.
Best Value in Higher Education
Metro State offers a great educational value, with the lowest tuition of the state’s five largest institutions. The cost of resident tuition and fees for 15 credit hours in the 2007-08 academic year is:
- Metro State: $1,517
- UNC: $2,157
- CU-Denver: $2,683 up to $2,748 depending on class year and program
- CSU: $2,709 minimum, more charged for certain upper-division courses and high-demand programs
- CU-Boulder: $3,318 up to $4,948, depending on program
In addition, more than $84 million in college scholarships, grants, loans and work-study opportunities are disbursed each year to Metro State students. And, through the Cooperative Education and Internship Center, Metro State students annually earn more than $4 million in 1,000 paid internships at 600 local businesses.
A Core Value: Diversity
Metro State attracts a diverse student body. Classrooms provide a rich mixture of age groups, socioeconomic classes, ethnic backgrounds and lifestyles. Students of all ages go to Metro State, from 16 to 60 and beyond. The median age is 23.
Metro State enrolls the highest number of students of color (24% of its student population) of all four-year colleges in the state. The College ranks second in the state in graduating Latino students, and has set a goal of becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution—with more than 25 percent of enrollment of Latino descent—within the next 10 years. The HSI designation brings with it funding opportunities that benefit all students.
Metro State has been highlighted in national publications for its diversity:
- Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education consistently ranks Metro State among the top 100 colleges and universities in the nation for graduating Latino students and was awarded a 2006 Publisher’s Pick.
- Diverse: Issues in Higher Education ranks Metro State among the top 100 institutions in the nation in awarding baccalaureate degrees to minorities.
Metro State is on its way to meeting its goal of increasing the diversity of its faculty: Since 2004, tenured and tenure-track faculty of color have increased by 58 percent, with African American faculty increasing by 92 percent and Latino faculty by 64 percent. With 20 percent faculty of color, Metro State is ranked first in the state for the ethnic diversity of its faculty, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Academics
Metro State offers 52 major fields of study and 79 minors and awards bachelor of science, bachelor of music, bachelor of arts and bachelor of fine arts degrees through its three schools:
- Business
- Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Professional Studies
A teaching institution, Metro State’s average class size is 20. The top 10 majors/programs by enrollment in fall 2007 were:
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To best meet the needs of its students, the College holds day, night and weekend courses at the downtown Auraria campus and at its two suburban satellite campuses, Metro South and Metro North. In addition, Metro State offers many courses online and is working to develop coordinated degree programs in partnership with community colleges that will deliver the curriculum for a baccalaureate degree on community college campuses.
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A leader in
diversity
Metro State’s more than 5,000 students of color comprise 24 percent of its enrollment, making Metro State the leader in diverse enrollment among Colorado’s four-year colleges. The College consistently ranks among the top 100 colleges and universities for graduating students of color.