First Year Experience Courses
Program basics
- Supplementary courses or seminars instructing new college students on subjects that can improve their college experience academically, personally, and socially
- Focus on studying skills, social interactions, and access to institutional support
- Studies suggest these programs increase credit accumulation, the likelihood students will complete their degree, and general achievement
Strength of evidence
Evidence level: Strong (second-highest tier)
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Strong (second-highest tier)
Ranked as having the second-highest level of evidence by the U.S. Department of Education What Works Clearinghouse
Target population
Students enrolled in post-secondary education
Program cost
Not available
Implementation locations
- Nationwide
Dates active
1970s-present
Outcomes and impact
- Increased academic achievement
- Increased social development
- Increased chances of degree completion
- Increased sense of community in the college environment
Keys to successful implementation
- Note: This content is under review
- Consider making the program mandatory for target populations (such as students enrolled in remedial courses or in a specific major).
- Design a holistic program that incorporates academic (like study and technology skillbuilding), personal (such as goal setting and responsibilities), and community development (i.e. relationship building and experiential education) programming.
- Provide faculty members with substantial training and workshop opportunities, such as in teaching, course planning, and facilitating a sense of belonging for students.
- Keep cohorts relatively small (15-20 students) to allow for more individualized skill- and relationship-building opportunities.
- Recruit faculty members to serve as cohort leaders, and older students to serve as teaching assistants and informal counselors.
- Incorporate events into the program frequently, such as career services events, study abroad fairs, campus organization fairs, university sporting events, and picnics.
- Encourage faculty members to clearly define both academic and nonacademic goals for the course, and to tie any grades or student feedback to both sets of goals.
