Benefits

The Benefits of Students and Resident Assistants Who Participate In a Learning Community

Learning Communities provide the following benefits:

• Participation in an LC boosts the chances of academic success.
  • Students generally do better in their coursework if they are a part of a Learning Community.
• Students in LCs get to know their professors and classmates better.
  • Students in LCs show higher levels of integration with Purdue if they are part of an LC.
  • Students in LCs report higher levels of satisfaction with Purdue and their first-year of college than students who are not part of a Learning Community.
• Students in LCs create lasting friendships.
  • Most upper-level students report that many of the friendships they have as sophomores, juniors, and seniors were created during their first-year of college, specifically as a result of interacting with other students in their LC.
• Students in LCs have the opportunity to broaden their learning experience.
• Students have many opportunities to go on field trips and participate in out-of-class experiences that reinforce what they are learning in the classroom.
• Students in LCs with a residential component receive the added benefits of living together.
• Students have the chance to interact in different environments by participating in the LCs with residential options. Students can participate in programming within the hall, live and study together, and take their learning experiences out of the classroom and into their living space.

Learning Communities provide RAs with the these benefits:

• RAs will have an increased opportunity to work with university faculty and staff to plan programs for their floors.
• RAs have a newfound insight into their residents' interests.
• RAs may have similar academic majors or area of study as LC students.
• RAs will have a new appreciation for academic and residential opportunities available to assist first-year students transition to a large, research-based institution.