First-Year and Transfer Seminars

Did you come to USF for:

  • Small class sizes?
  • Innovative courses?
  • Great faculty?
  • New friends?
  • San Francisco culture?
  • Novel experiences?

Of course you did! That's why you should enroll in a First Year Seminar (FYS) or Transfer Year Seminar (TYS) — a unique opportunity to experience the best things about college, all at the same time.  FYS and TYS courses are offered each Fall semester, with a limited number of Rhetoric and Language Core A2 courses offered in the Spring semester.

FYS and TYS courses are designed and taught by faculty with a special passion for the topic. All of the seminars count toward the Core, and most include excursions into the city and a variety of enrichment activities. So, instead of a standard “Intro” course in a given Core area, try “Dance in San Francisco,” “Lovers of Wisdom,” “Golden Gate Park,” “Telling SF Stories,” “Podcasts: Eloquentia & Audio," or "Sports Talk.”

These seminars are small, so you’ll get to know your professor and classmates well. Many seminars also have a First Year Seminar Assistant (FYSA), an advanced undergraduate who is available to mentor new students, and to assist them in navigating the university.

"In my estimation, the Peer Mentoring program for the FYS/TYS is an unparalleled innovation in pedagogy at USF.  Twice now, I have had exceptional classroom camaraderie due in large part to the participation of my Peer Mentor.  For either first year or transfer students, it is a huge challenge to find one's way around USF and SF while devoting oneself to the rigors of academic life (and working at a job as the case may be).  The Peer Mentor does what I cannot:  lends the voice of experience from the student's perspective." - Philosophy Professor Jacqueline Taylor, "PHIL 295: Moral Responsibility," December 2019

FYS courses are open only to new college students in their first (or sometimes second) semester at USF. TYS courses are available to all Transfer students, usually in their first or second semester.  View our current course offerings, and contact the Associate Dean of Arts & Humanities, Cathy Gabor cgabor@usfca.edu for more information.