A Message to the Penn Community
from
Amy Gutmann, President
Wendell Pritche7, Provost
At Penn, we are strongly commi7ed to ensuring the success of our students on campus and beyond.  To advance this
mission for our undergraduate community – and a@er robust consultaAons with student leaders, College House faculty and
staff, undergraduate deans, trustees, student advisors, and other campus partners – we are pleased to announce the
creaAon and implementaAon of a new Second Year Experience Program. 
This year, the Program will begin to offer expanded programming and new events designed specifically for second-year
students, both across campus and in individual College Houses. StarAng with the incoming Class of 2024, the Program will
house all Penn sophomores in a two-year College House system.  Just as the opening of the Quad more than a century ago
profoundly and posiAvely impacted our University, the Second Year Experience Program will help shape the social,
intellectual, and cultural connecAons that will disAnguish the Penn undergraduate experience for generaAons of students
to come.
We believe that a two-year College House system will measurably strengthen the sense of community among our first- and
second-year students – promoAng students’ achievement and well-being, enhancing support for students’ academic and
social lives, and increasing opportuniAes to engage with diverse programs and viewpoints.  Housing all sophomores on
campus also will eliminate a major source of stress and anxiety for first-year students, who have told us that they feel
pressured to consider second-year housing opAons during their first semester as Penn students. 
Our new Second Year Experience will include special programs designed specifically to address the unique needs of secondyear students.  These programs will encompass not only successful ongoing programs such as the Majors and More Dinners
and the Wharton Sophomore Experience but also sophomore-specific courses, celebraAons, and social events, such as the
new Sophomore Day that was held just a few weeks ago. 
Penn’s ability to support a full two-year College House system will be made possible with the opening of New College
House West in fall 2021, which will increase capacity for an addiAonal 450 upperclass students on campus.  In addiAon to
New College House West, we will conAnue making major investments in Penn’s exisAng College Houses in the years ahead.
Penn’s 12 College Houses, each with its own focus and tradiAons, offer vibrant opportuniAes for self-discovery and
enrichment.  As living and learning communiAes of undergraduates, faculty, staff and graduate students, they help bridge
the academic life of the classroom with our living spaces.  There is evidence that students engaged in College House-type
programs adjust be7er to college life, develop healthier habits, engage in fewer high-risk behaviors, and perform be7er
academically than their peers living off-campus.  The 2017 Task Force on a Safe and Responsible Campus Community
outlined these and related opportuniAes to be7er support student wellness and augment campus living and learning.  A
structured, community-oriented residenAal experience helps students develop smart, sound habits that will serve them
well long a@er graduaAon. 
In the months ahead, we look forward to sharing more details about our new Second Year Experience Program and Penn’s
transiAon to a two-year College House system.  We are confident that these iniAaAves will further Penn’s commitment to
helping all students thrive as members of our Penn community and in their lives a@er graduaAon.
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