Residential First-Year Experience

Residential First-Year Experience Welcome to UMass Amherst and the Residential First-Year Experience! RFYE is a unique living experience designed to help first-year students successfully transition into the academic, social, and personal demands of college.

At UMass Amherst, we utilize Your PLACE: Residential Curriculum, an approach designed to deliver intentional learning opportunities for our students who live in the residence halls. Our educational outcome is that students will be active community members who are personally and socially responsible, academically prepared, and strive for cultural competence. As a result of living in the residence halls, students will have many opportunities to participate in activities and conversation with staff and peers, connect and be aware of many critical campus resources for success, and explore new ideas while building meaningful connections with each other.

The staff in each hall are available to provide academic and personal support as well as intentional learning opportunities that will help students become familiar with campus and successfully navigate course work. First-year students have the option to further your residential learning experience by joining a Residential Academic Program (RAP) within your first-year hall as well. The RAP program allows for students to live amongst others with a shared interest or academic focus, and even allows for some to have courses held right in the halls in which they live.

In addition to all of the academic support, living in a community of other first-year students is really fun! RFYE staff provides students with opportunities for social programs, large-scale events, and field trips to give students a break from studying.

Housed in five different residential areas (Northeast, Sylvan, Southwest, Central, Orchard Hill and the Commonwealth Honors College Residential Community), the Residential First Year Experience offers a variety of living and learning opportunities. Take some time to explore the many options for your Residential First Year Experience.

Living at UMass FacebookCheck out our Living at UMass Amherst Facebook page. You can view information on upcoming events in the residence halls, join discussion groups and see photos of our halls, rooms and residents!

 Question? Contact us.