There was also a course at Amherst College which started in 1913 and at Brown University starting in 1915. During the 1970's, there was a resurgence of these courses. This resurgence happened somewhat spontaneously around the United States and Canada when college administrators and faculty discovered that students were having difficulty in making the adjustment to college life. This was a time of heightened political awareness and renewed focus in American higher education on programs to help students succeed academically and socially. It was in this climate that the University 101 course was officially established in 1972 at the University of South Carolina.
Similar courses spread at other colleges and universities in the next few years.
This data was gathered from national surveys conducted by College Survival and also by the National Orientation Directors Association. This is based on research that was done through the University of South Carolina by Betsy Barefoot in her Ph. D. dissertation. College Survival started as a consulting company and publishing company in 1981. It was started by Dave Ellis, who is the author of Becoming a Master Student . Ellis operated this company, which grew to 50 employees, until 1993 when he sold the publishing assets of the company to Houghton Mifflin Company.