Mission Statement
The primary mission of Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is undergraduate education. Faculty and students focus on public service activities and projects that are community-based. Faculty research supports this teaching and service mission and has as its primary focus the application of research to serve state and regional needs. -- from the Mission Statement in the FGCU Catalog, 98-99.

The College of Education is committed to providing high quality preparation programs for preK-12 education. Field internship experiences include observing and teaching in classrooms where students have special educational needs and assuming the role of counselor in a school or a community agency. The quality of educational placements and the opportunities to observe and teach diverse students are paramount when placing pre-service teachers.

Through its Education Program, the Seminole Tribe of Florida is committed to helping every tribal member become a strong individual capable of acting as his or her own person. To assist in this purpose the Tribe seeks to support and, where needed, "provide educational programs that strengthen the Tribal identity of the individual while at the same time strengthening their living in the greater U.S. society." Self-sufficiency of the individual also means self-sufficiency of the Tribe as a whole, which requires each Tribal member throughout his or her life to attain as much education as possible [Seminole Education Philosophy].²

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^2. Seminole Tribe of Florida: Seminole Tribal comprehensive Education Plan. June 1988. P 3. Division of Education.