While each of FSU’s learning communities is unique, they all share a basic emphasis on academics. Each program’s participants not only live in the same residence hall but also participate in an academic component that helps bring them together as a community. Several programs have a weekly colloquium, for example, and several offer one or more 3-credit-hour courses.These communities introduce participants to what this major research university has to offer, including access to some of FSU’s most distinguished faculty members.In the midst of all this intense emphasis on building an academic community, the participants—most of whom are first-year students—focus on learning. Being part of these programs helps residents build on the high level of motivation that they bring to being an FSU student. One payoff of these programs’ increased intensity is that a higher proportion of their residents are graduating on time.