I have found the mission statement of two institutions, one from my local community college and one from Texas A&M:
Community College:
MVCC provides accessible, high-quality educational opportunities to meet the diverse needs of our students. We are the community’s college, committed to student success through partnerships, transfer and career pathways, and personal enrichment.
Texas A&M:
Texas A&M University is dedicated to the discovery, development, communication, and application of knowledge in a wide range of academic and professional fields. Its mission of providing the highest quality undergraduate and graduate programs is inseparable from its mission of developing new understandings through research and creativity. It prepares students to assume roles in leadership, responsibility, and service to society. Texas A&M assumes as its historic trust the maintenance of freedom of inquiry and an intellectual environment nurturing the human mind and spirit. It welcomes and seeks to serve persons of all racial, ethnic and geographic groups as it addresses the needs of an increasingly diverse population and a global economy. In the 21st century, Texas A&M University seeks to assume a place of preeminence among public universities while respecting its history and traditions.
Both mission statements speak of providing high-quality education to their students. They differ in that MVCC does not discuss research, or ensuring that their students become responsible leaders that serve their society. The main reasons for these differences probably lie in that MVCC is just a gateway for students that are heading off to university or they understand that students that come there are not preparing for a professional degree. They also probably receive less funding and aren’t a research institution, so it is not possible for the MVCC to add significant discoveries or developments to society.
Texas A&M also talks about serving persons of racial, ethnic, and geographic background. This is probably something that MVCC wouldn’t focus on because it is not very common for a person from another part of the world to come to the US to go to a community college. They do discuss serving the diverse needs of their students but this is probably more for people of different learning types and abilities.
The main differences in these missions statements are due to the focus of the institution and an understanding of the administration of the type of people that come to each institution. MVCC brings in people who are finishing a certificate, taking a few classes while working in the area, advanced high school students, or students that did not do well enough in high school to get into a prominent institution. Texas A&M is a university that grants Ph.D.’s and prepares students for a professional job or research. They also bring in a number of people from all parts of the world and they need to make sure they are meeting the needs of all those students and helping them to transition to a new country.