First Year Experience Programs

First Year Experience (FYE) Programs are initiatives designed to support new college students as they transition to higher education. These programs typically focus on enhancing students' academic skills, social integration, and overall well-being during their first year. FYE Programs often include features such as orientation events, mentorship opportunities, academic advising, and community-building activities, which aim to create a supportive environment.

The significance of FYE Programs lies in their ability to address common challenges faced by first-year students, such as adapting to a new academic rigor and navigating campus resources. They encourage engagement and foster a sense of belonging, which can contribute to higher retention rates and academic success. Additionally, FYE Programs often emphasize inclusivity, recognizing the diverse backgrounds and experiences of students. By providing tailored support and resources, FYE Programs aim to empower students to thrive in their new educational environment, setting a positive foundation for their college journey.

Published in: 2021

By: Joseph Dewey, PhD

Subject Terms

First Year Experience Programs

Last reviewed: February 2017

Abstract

First Year Experience (FYE) programs are courses, ranging from a few weeks to entire semesters, offered by colleges and universities to all their incoming students. The FYE courses, unlike classes within the curricula of individual departments, focus exclusively on strategies for successfully engaging the university experience itself to help these new students to adjust to what, for the vast majority of them, will be their first real opportunity to manage their own lives. In addition to focusing on practical survival skills, however, these FYE programs also help create a sense of community and camaraderie within an incoming class.

Overview

Fewer than one-fourth of high school graduates attended college during the 1950s and 1960s. College freshmen, generally the children of college graduates, were assumed to be prepared for the rigors and expectations of higher education. Incoming college students were seen to be in the environment where they were most likely to succeed: the classroom. University life—athletics, partying, laundry, relationships—contributed to students’ sense of independence and how to function in the real world. A principle of “survival of the fittest” guided policy, and students who did not find college manageable and decided to opt out of their education were considered to have defined important limits to their abilities and come away with a degree of self-knowledge.

What support universities provided was largely done through basic pro forma orientation sessions, most often the week (or even the weekend) before classes actually began. Such orientation programs most often involved touring the campus to locate critical buildings, meeting academic advisors who would help develop a plan of academic study, and attending some kind of social activity, most often a picnic or breakfast, designed to ease the separation anxiety once family had departed. Once classes began, a student’s innate sense of learning was expected to kick in and dissipate any homesickness or lingering anxiety.

More than Orientation. What is known now as the First Year Experience had its beginnings in the early 1970s at the main campus of the University of South Carolina. After more than a decade in which not only the campus of USC but also campuses across the nation had experienced angry and passionate protests against a variety of national problems ranging from civil rights to the Vietnam War, the administration at South Carolina decided that its campus had lost its identity, had become a zone of contention rather than a proud institution of higher education.

Administrators believed their students had lost what had for generations defined their graduates: fidelity and even love of their alma mater, a sense of belonging to an extended family. In an effort to restore that sense of belonging, USC began what it termed University 101, an introduction to life (and learning) at the University of South Carolina. Within a decade, the concept had spread to university systems across the country.

However, in the face of declining retention rates in the early 1990s, FYE programs began to shift their focus from giving freshman identity and pride to showing them strategies to actually succeed in college. In an increasingly competitive job market in which a college degree came to be required for any level of professional success, nontraditional students decided they needed additional education. College graduates were paid more and were in a better position to succeed in a variety of fields. College became like the new high school—the minimum expectation for employment.

Attrition Rates. Rising numbers of students, however, did not mean rising numbers of graduates. Just under 15 percent of first-time college applicants in 2013 were the first in their family to even apply to college. These students often come to a campus as a freshman with little context for understanding campus life or knowing strategies for succeeding at the work of an advanced education. For example, unlike high school teachers, college instructors are not in sync when assigning papers or giving exams. The schedule throws off many otherwise talented incoming students. Students must adapt to an “entirely different pattern” to survive academically (Marina & Mcquire, 2008).

For colleges facing a dramatic rise in the attrition rates, measuring the number of incoming freshmen who opt to leave school or fail within the first year, FYE programs are key to both maintaining enrollment and helping struggling students succeed. In 2014, just over 70 percent of graduating high school seniors in the United States matriculated at some type of school, from two-year technical and professional colleges to community colleges and traditional four-year institutions. However, over 30 percent, roughly a third, leave before the end of the first year. More than two thirds of those later return to some level of college within three years, but success continues to be limited. Barely one fourth of these so-called “repeat non-completers” actually complete their degree (Jamelske, 2009).

Attrition numbers are complicated by the hard reality of financing college. As of 2013, more than 60 percent of graduates of public colleges had individually accumulated more than $20,000 in debt; the number is exponentially increased when factoring in private colleges where tuition can be as much as $60,000 a semester. Freshmen literally could not afford to fail.

College-Prepped but Not Ready. Many incoming students need to be directed to help guarantee that college does not overwhelm them. Sociologists and psychologists point to the phenomenon of over-protective parents (termed “helicopter parents”) and to high schools that offer soft rather than challenging curricula, often stressing extracurricular activities over classroom work and standardized testing over developing analytical thinking skills, as causes for the often traumatic adjustment to college. FYE programs provide freshmen “a forum… to examine their entry to college and the implications” of attending college for their identities and personal growth (Bers & Younger, 2014).

Students are naturally interested in the social freedoms of college but are often unaware of (or indifferent to) the complex responsibilities of independent living, decision making, and self-direction. Substance abuse, poor time management, health and mental health issues, and relationship difficulties can interfere with personal and academic success. Students for whom achievement in high school came easy may be cavalier toward succeeding in higher education and the enormity of the stakes. FYE programs center on the same concept: successful high school students do not necessarily make for successful college students.

Applications

At present, more than 60 percent of two- and four-year colleges and universities in the United States sponsor some kind of an FYE program. Depending on the school, FYE programs are either mandated or strongly encouraged for all incoming freshmen. Often students are given one or two credits as incentive to participate. The courses are most often pass-fail as a way to minimize anxiety. FYE programs address these issues in strategies that are designed to inspire incoming students to succeed; the programs—and there are as many variations as there are colleges that sponsor these programs—are designed to be optimistic and upbeat, to reassure incoming students that college is a doable enterprise, that their time and money will be well invested, and, importantly, that they are not alone. “[S]tudents work on their identities to become ‘somebody’, to fit into what they recognize as institutional and culturally accepted pathways and reach a sense of belonging” (Holmegaard, Madsen & Ulriksen, 2012).

Most generally, these courses emphasize practical skills necessary to college success, skills many incoming students do not fully appreciate. Students are taken through how to manage time, how to handle test-taking anxieties, how to put together a program of study or how to change majors, how to take effective notes, how to highlight a textbook, how to ask questions in a classroom, how to succeed in small group discussions, how to use computer technology effectively, how to use the resources of both the campus library and the virtual library, how to interact with professors, where to find critical services on campus. The intention is clear: success in college begins in the classroom but each classroom is part of a wider network of services.

FYE programs also offer students a chance to explore more complex questions about college life: how to manage feelings of isolation; how to handle inevitable classroom struggles and/or failures; how to handle meals to avoid unhealthy weight gains (the notorious “Freshman 15”); how to handle relational issues ranging from roommate problems to gossip and bullying on social media. In an effort to help alleviate many of the more profound emotional and even psychological issues that can arise in the freshman year ranging from depression to loneliness to homesickness, FYEs often introduce students to organizations that serve the campus as a way of developing individual identity and which provide opportunities to meet others with similar interests.

Critical information about date rape and domestic violence on campus is usually a component of FYE programs. Students are taken through campus security procedures and are given specific advice about staying safe. Students are advised about the dangers of alcohol or drug abuse. Students are directed to counseling services and psychological support groups provided by the college for a range of emotional issues and crises common among college students, including suicide ideations, eating disorders, and questions about sexual orientation and gender identity.

In their broadest expression, FYEs offer students help with basic life skills, recognizing that even superior work in the classroom in high school does not prepare a student adequately for the real world. Sessions are designed to show students how to manage finances; how to fill out applications; how to use e-mail professionally; how to interact with a diversity of people, how to respect other viewpoints and how to develop appropriate sensitivity to those with different backgrounds; how to plan a healthy diet; and/or how to prepare an effective resume and handle the particular pressures of a job interview.

FYEs represent a flexible template. Colleges can direct their programs to address specific needs and can change the material semester to semester to respond to current issues or the particular needs of a student body. Whatever the subject matter, the sessions are most often designed to be informal and discussion-oriented; professors seldom work with these courses as their presence considerably alters the dynamic. Most often, colleges assemble an entire division specifically designed to run the FYE programs, staffed by those with backgrounds in education or counseling or psychology. Guest lecturers may be recruited to address specific issues.

Students are often put into small groups to encourage opening up. At some universities, FYE programs have all the freshmen class read a particular book, most often an inspirational work of nonfiction intended to bolster a student’s sense of purpose and success. Students are encouraged to ask questions and to listen to others. FYEs may sponsor outings to local points of interest–for example, historical homes, museums, or natural landmarks—as a way to help acclimate the students to their new environment. In some cases, FYEs offer students a chance to work in community volunteer organizations as a way not only to develop their sense of outreach and community commitment but also to provide significant experiences that can be used on resumes.

Although certain metrics are difficult to manage—student attitude, for example, or student confidence (Dolinsky, Matthews, Greenfield, Curtis-Tweed & Evenbeck, 2007; Schrader & Brown, 2008)— significant data indicates that schools that sponsor FYE programs do see a rise in both student retention and in grade point averages. The numbers are not overwhelming. A 2014 federal government study indicated the average freshman GPA was just under 2.5, and in colleges with FYE programs the average was 2.7. Any success, however, is embraced by both students and colleges. The community support implicit in these no-pressure courses allows students the chance to see that their anxieties, their frustrations, and their fears are normal, even inevitable, elements of the college experience and that the college is prepared to help in the transition to college-level work.

Viewpoints

Many traditional academics, those who see the broad picture of college and its history, argue that these programs simply coddle students whose talents and skill sets are simply not up to college-level work. Indeed, these critics argue, college was never designed to be an open-door admission system. Faculty members, most often younger and non-tenured, can feel that participating in such programs demeans their professional standing and is a distraction from “real” classes and their own research (Murray & Wolf, 2016). In addition, critics of FYE programs object that giving college credit for taking courses on doing laundry and setting an alarm clock undercuts the value of “real” credits.

Proponents counter that credit incentives are small price to pay for success. Effective FYE programs are seen as ways to develop better and more effective teaching, better and more effective administration of student services, and ultimately to create more successful and confident graduates. “From the FYE program perspective, it therefore makes sense to align ways of addressing the widening participation goals of student retention and success with other priorities such as developing graduate attributes and changing teaching and assessment practices” (McKenzie & Egea, 2016).

Terms & Concepts

Attrition Rate: The calculation made by a college to measure what percentage of an incoming freshman class remains to complete their education, whether a two-year or four-year program,

Credit: The measure of the value of a particular college course, most often calculated by level of difficulty and/or time commitment expected by a student.

Freshman 15: Shorthand expression for the weight gain on average that incoming freshman experience in college (fifteen pounds the first two semesters).

Open-Door Admission: The policy of many public colleges, community colleges, and professional schools to virtually eliminate levels of past academic achievement and/or measures of potential for academic success and admitting those students to a program of study.

Orientation: A program, usually a single day or a weekend, offered by a college that seeks to present first year students with a comprehensive overview of the campus and its operations.

Program of Study: A schedule of classes, most often drawn up during a freshman year, that charts the courses a student will need and the times they can take those courses in an effort to complete the degree program efficiently.

Retention: The goal of a college to ensure an incoming student remains within the academic community past the first semester.

Separation Anxiety: A psychological mindset in which a person perceives the absence of a particular person, place, and/or entity to the degree that the absence has a significant impact on their ability to manage their day to day routine.

Bibliography

Bers, T., & Younger, D. (2014). The first-year experience in community college. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2013(160), 77–93. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=97678677&site=ehost-live

Dolinsky, B., Matthews, R. S., Greenfield, G. M., Curtis-Tweed, P., & Evenbeck, S. E. (2007). Assessment is essential for implementing successful first-year experience programs. Assessment Update, 19(6), 9–11. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=27974901&site=ehost-live

Holmegaard, H. H., Madsen, L., & Ulriksen, L. (2014). A journey of negotiation and belonging: Understanding students’ transitions to science and engineering in higher education. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 9(3), 755–786. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=97411632&site=ehost-live

Jamelsky, E. (2009). Measuring the impact of a university first-year experience program on student GPA and retention. Higher Education, 57(3), 373–391. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=508046531&site=ehost-live

Marina, B., & McGuire, M. (2008). First-year experience: Reforms in college freshmen programs for first year students. Educational Planning, 17(3), 1927. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=508037359&site=ehost-live

McKenzie, J., & Egea, K. (2016). Five years of FYE: Evolution, outcomes and lessons learned from an institutional program. A good practice report. Student Success, 7(23), 65–76. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=117070906&site=ehost-live

Murray, J., & Wolf, P. (2016). Faculty experience teaching in an interdisciplinary first-year seminar program: The case of the University of Guelph. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 7(1), 1–19. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=116666153&site=ehost-live

Schrader, P. G., & Brown, S. W. (2008). Evaluating the first year experience: Students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Journal of Advanced Academics, 19(2), 310–343. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Education Source. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=31911801&site=ehost-live

First Year Experience Programs

On this Page

Subject Terms

First Year Experience Programs

Abstract

Overview

Applications

Viewpoints

Terms & Concepts

Bibliography

Suggested Reading