Every OSS: Learning Community includes registration in an UGST 181: Freshman Seminar during the first year on campus. The UGST 181 course does not incur an additional cost in fees or tuition for the student because it is listed as a zero-credit course. However, the satisfactory or unsatisfactory (S/U) completion of the Learning Community section does appear on the student's transcript.
 
 OSS: Learning Community courses are certified as Hullabaloo-U First Year Experiences so that students can meet that campus requirement without adding to their schedule beyond their LC section.
 

Students do not pay additional fees to participate in OSS: Learning Communities. There may be incidental expenses for optional activities occasionally, and the international immersion experiences do require payment of travel costs (but are usually supported by increased financial aid).

Most simply, a learning community is a village of students within the larger university. Learning communities provide "families" of students with small group interactions, peer and faculty/staff mentorship, and common intellectual experiences that lead to academic success and higher graduation rates. LC students engage each other, faculty and staff in academic dialogue while learning the university's culture and developing themselves personally, professionally, and academically.

All of the OSS: Learning Communities require students to be recipients of a specific scholarship. Depending on supporting scholarship requirements, students may be required to live on campus. When that is the case, it is expected that students will select the living-learning program hall(s) unless participating in the Corps of Cadets or Aggie Band.