First-Year Experience

Overview

Chico State’s First-Year Experience (FYE) program helps new Wildcats make a successful transition to university life—academically, personally, and socially. Whether you’re a first-time college student or a transfer student, FYE provides courses, mentoring, and events designed to help you thrive.

Our High-Impact General Education (GE) courses use collaborative, active learning methods to foster curiosity, confidence, and connection. Students who take FYE courses tend to earn higher GPAs, stay on track to graduate, and report a stronger sense of belonging at Chico State.

Through FYE courses and programs, students:

  • Explore their academic identities and interests
  • Develop essential learning strategies and self-management skills
  • Build meaningful connections with peers, faculty, and campus resources
  • Engage in real-world research, discussion, and community projects

Beyond the classroom, FYE hosts events that support first-year and transfer students, including:

  • Welcome activities that connect students to campus life
  • Public Sphere Pedagogy events like the Town Hall Meeting in POLS 155 and Sense of Place for our UNIV 120 courses

  • Networking and mentoring opportunities through peer and faculty connections

Research consistently shows that students who engage actively during their first year—both in and out of class—are more likely to succeed and graduate.

High Impact FYE General Education Courses

FYE’s High-Impact GE courses use Chico State’s Public Sphere Pedagogy, where students learn by engaging with authentic, real-world questions. Coursework culminates in public projects that invite dialogue and may directly impact campus or community initiatives. Many courses include an embedded peer mentor—a trained student leader who offers guidance, collaboration, and support throughout the semester.

Course Highlights: Students build skills in research, collaboration, public speaking, and critical discussion while connecting academic inquiry to real-world challenges.

UNIV 120  Transitions and Transformation: Academic Identity and Success  3 Units  GE  
Prerequisite: Freshman standing or faculty permission.  
Typically Offered: Fall and spring  
This course explores the modern university system and its support for and barriers to student success. Topics include emerging adulthood, liminality, sense of belonging, hidden curriculum, student support programs, and academic identity. Students serve as researchers, using self-reflection, interviews, and library research to produce preliminary findings and suggest pathways to increased belonging and student success. 3 hours lecture.  (009580)  
General Education: Social and Behavioral Sciences (4)  
Grade Basis: Graded  
Repeatability: You may take this course for a maximum of 3 units  
Course Attributes: Lower Division  

See the FYE website for additional High Impact General Education Course offerings.