Mission 

Cuesta College transforms a diverse community of learners with education and empowerment to become responsible stewards and leaders in a dynamic global community.

Vision 

Cuesta College will advance social equity by maximizing the human potential of all students through innovative educational programs and services.

Values 

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging 

Cuesta College values student validation, affirmation, and belonging as essential for a successful educational experience. As a Hispanic Serving Institution, we strive to create a welcoming culture that recognizes and respects these students within the complex and beautiful mosaic of intersectionality embodied in the Cuesta College community.

Student-Centered 

Cuesta College values students and prioritizes them in the work of the college by creating an accessible and safe environment that promotes access, choice, opportunity, and student voice – an environment that meets students’ needs, interests, and aspirations.

Student Success 

Cuesta College values student success in meeting their intellectual, cultural, and personal goals. We value practices, processes, policies, and pedagogy that result in student outcomes that can no longer be predicted by structural inequalities related to race, gender, disability, or socioeconomic status.

Access and Opportunity 

Cuesta College values access to education as a practice of freedom. We subscribe to the philosophy that education should not be preserved for the elite, but rather must be accessible to anyone and everyone desirous of higher education. We value access to programs and services that are unimpeded by structural, procedural, or bureaucratic barriers.

Kindness, Care, and Respect 

Cuesta College values a culture of compassion, empathy, respect, and collegiality, providing all students, employees, and community members with the opportunity to share space in a nurturing, respectful, caring environment in which to study, work, and thrive.

Openness and Innovation 

Cuesta College values creativity as key to knowledge production, teaching, and problem solving. We cultivate spaces where risks are encouraged and where innovative thinking is supported.

Community Partnerships 

Cuesta College values deep and meaningful engagement and collaboration with community-based organizations, local and regional partners, businesses, and educational institutions.

Sustainability 

Cuesta College values our commitment to practicing wisdom and discernment to sustain our fiscal, human, and environmental resources into the future.