Living Learning Communities (LLCs) have long been recognized as a best practice within higher education and academia, to support student learning and to deepen belonging for residential students. LLCs are seen as collaborative environments in which living and learning meet outside of the classroom, and are defined as “environments in which more intellectual interaction can occur among students, faculty and staff with whom students interact” (Hurd and Stein, 2004, p. 3).
At CU Boulder, LLCs are cohorts of students that live and learn together around a specific topical area. LLCs have eligibility requirements to live in the community, and LLC offerings are both academic and theme based. Some LLCs offer classes, and others have co-curricular experiences built into the residential experience. Additionally, LLCs at CU Boulder are created with a sustainable collaborative structure shared between a department/college and Student Affairs. Costs associated with each LLC are provided by the department and/or college submitting the proposal and from the First Year Experience (FYE) at CU Boulder, at no additional cost to the student.
