We believe in education. We believe in academic rigor and high expectations. We believe education liberates and empowers. Education, for better or for worse, permeates every aspect of our current reality and our envisioned future from individual minds to collective energies. Rigorous education engenders critical discernment, encourages civil discourse and stimulates creative possibilities within individuals and organizations. We believe that non-profit, academically rigorous colleges and universities serve the broader educational needs of society and of first-generation college students–including the need to develop, and enhance, social capital stock.