STARTS Program

The STARTS program (Staying on Track And Reaching Toward Success) is designed to help students who need additional academic support during their first year at Heidelberg. 

STARTS students enroll in the following classes (limited to 12 semester hours) during the first Fall semester at Heidelberg:

•    FYE 100 First Year Experience seminar – 3 semester hours
•    ENG 101 Expository Writing – 3 semester hours
•    NDI 128 Learning Process in an Academic Environment – 2 semester hours
•    NDI 100 Critical Thinking – 1 semester hour
•    One elective course – 3 semester hours

Based on your placement tests, a student may be enrolled in a mathematics class (MTH 090) that does not count toward graduation but will strengthen preparation for college-level work. All other courses will count toward graduation as long as satisfactory grades are achieved.

In addition to these fall course requirements, students meet regularly throughout the semester with the Director of the Academic Success Center, the Student Success Coordinator, the Director of Career Development, and the Director of Student Activities and Leadership.  Students are expected to participate in regularly scheduled tutorial sessions during the semester.  

During the Spring semester STARTS students will continue to meet regularly with the aforementioned staff members.  Depending on the Fall semester GPA, a student may be allowed to enroll in more than 12 credit hours Spring semester.  Students whose Fall GPA is between 1.6 and 2.5 will follow a structured 12 credit semester with guidance from their advisor; students whose fall GPA is over 2.6 will be allowed to take up to 15 credit hours. 

During the year we encourage and expect each student to find an area of interest to become involved – athletics, music, theatre, spiritual life, or other student organization.