Academic First-Year Experiences (AFYE)
Empowering freshmen and transfer students to thrive from day one!
AFYE integrates skill-building, wellness, community engagement, and identity-affirming learning communities, allowing students develop critical thinking, time management, and self-advocacy skills while fostering meaningful connections with peers, faculty, and campus resources. This comprehensive approach helps build a strong foundation for long-term academic and personal success. Recognized as a high-impact practice, these transformative seminars lead to stronger retention, higher GPAs, and faster degree progress—reflecting our unwavering commitment to student success.
Humble Beginnings
University 100: The Freshman Seminar began in Fall 1999 as a one-unit lecture and lab course serving 700 students. It has since grown into a 3-unit course with over 70 sections and more than 2,000 students annually. The purpose of AFYE remains focused on easing the transition to CSUN by introducing students to campus life, support services, academic skills, and habits for long-term success.
In Fall 2021, U301: Transfer Success Seminar was launched to extend first-year support to incoming transfer students. AFYE now partners with multiple academic departments and majors to provide additional experiences tailored to students’ unique academic pathways. Currently, about one third of all new freshmen take University 100.