According to Arenson, 83 percent of those surveyed said they believed that the positive effects of METCO outweighed the negative effects associated with the program.

Ninety-one percent of the METCO students surveyed reported that they had a good or excellent experience in learning to get along with people from other backgrounds, according to Arenson.

On the other hand, Arenson said that there are differences between student interaction and student unity.

"There is a difference between desegregation and integration," Arenson said.

Jean McGuire, the Executive Director of METCO, complimented the work of the Harvard Project.

"[METCO] does everything possible to make [minority students] shine," she said.

METCO Directors, Sheryl Goodloe and Cheryl Prescott, and Jeff Young, superintendent of the Lexington public school system, spoke of the advantages METCO has provided to the participating suburban school communities by increasing minority representation.

According to Orfield, the most important aspect of METCO, however, was not so much the interracial experience but the educational and psychological advantages for minority students of attending affluent schools where students are encouraged to succeed.

This was the primary motive for 80 percent of parents to enroll their children in METCO, Orfield said.

Tanika Edwards, a senior at a Newton High School, said she believes she has grown from her experience with METCO.

Edwards, who enrolled in the program 12 years ago as a kindergarten student, said she initially felt "horror getting into a bus to go to a place far away" and that she then underwent "trials and tribulations of racism, sexism and classism."