First-Year Learning Courses

The First-Year Learning Courses program consists of year-long academic courses that meet General Education requirements and are only offered to first-year students. These courses embed transition curriculum into General Education courses to help students transition to academic and student life at SSU. FLC allows students to get to know their faculty and classmates and engage in meaningful dialogue. Students who participate in FLC have been found to have a higher GPA, have a higher persistence to the second year, and gain a sense of community on campus that leads to greater satisfaction with their college experience. 

FLC Enrollment

Enrollment into FLCs will be through pre-enrollment based on your major department's recommendation. To learn more about the FLC you have been pre-enrolled into, follow the steps below. If you have not been pre-enrolled into an FLC but are interested in one, connect with your advisor to discuss your options. 

1. In the FLC Guide, view the FLC information for each course being offered.
2. Click on any FLC available for your major and view the description and what GE areas they satisfy.
3. If you have not been pre-enrolled and are interested in an FLC, please connect with your academic advisor. 

General Education at SSU allows students to explore different academic areas, provides a good foundation for a student's major, and provides a broad-based education that is more marketable in the workforce. For undeclared students, GE courses may lead to a major, a minor, or a newfound interest. Most majors at SSU have an FLC available for first-time first-year students. FLC class sizes are intentionally kept small (approximately 25 students per section) to help the faculty and peer mentors create an active and engaging learning community. The cornerstone of each FLC is the peer mentors, our highly trained student leaders, who assist faculty and first-year students inside and outside the classroom. 

Although some FLC align students with their major, many are not related to specific majors but help students meet the General Education requirements and explore an academic discipline. Through participation in FLC, first-year students can explore and address two primary concerns: 1) Will I find my community at SSU? and 2) Will I be academically successful? Students can connect with SSU and their peers while taking innovative and academically enriching courses. 

There are many benefits to actively participating in an FLC: 

• Guaranteed enrollment in popular General Education courses
• The opportunity to create a strong relationship with faculty members 
• Academically engaging learning environments 
• Personal relationships with peer mentors
• Intentional social gatherings for other first-time first-year students
• Statistics show that students who participate in FLC are academically and socially more successful than first-time first-year students who do not

Although every FLC is unique in its subject or interest area, each community has six consistent goals that support degree completion and student satisfaction. The goals address most first-year students' social and academic transitional challenges. 

FLC Goals

While in an FLC, students will: 

• Understand different academic paths and disciplines, begin to discover their academic passion and how to pursue that passion
• Practice active and self-responsible learning; understand the differences between high school and college and what is necessary to be successful and actively engaged in college life
• Become familiar with campus resources designed to support student success
• Develop a strong connection to faculty, fellow students, and university organizations
• Understand and appreciate ethnic and cultural diversity
• Participate meaningfully and ethically in their community