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Explore Lehigh

Spend your first semester learning about different disciplines from across our four undergraduate colleges, and discover how you can bring them together to tackle real-world challenges.

Your first semester builds the foundation for your college experience. Explore Lehigh is a unique first-semester program that introduces you to diverse fields across Lehigh’s four undergraduate colleges—College of Arts & Sciences, College of Health, College of Business and the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering & Applied Science—through an integrative course and two college-specific courses of your choosing:

  • College of Arts and Sciences: Big Questions Seminar
  • College of Business: Foundations of Business
  • College of Health: The Value of a Career in Health
  • P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science: Introduction to Engineering Practice

Explore Lehigh fosters exploration in a structured, low-pressure environment where you’ll engage with big questions, collaborate with peers, and develop essential skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication—no matter your intended major(s). Join us to explore your path forward at Lehigh.

Core Components of the Program

Programming begins the summer before you arrive on campus and continues throughout your four years at Lehigh.

Students participating in the program will:

  • Connect over the summer with advisors and faculty members
  • Participate in PreLUsion ahead of Fall 2025 Orientation
  • Be matched with an academic advisor, faculty mentor and career coach
  • Complete the specialized fall semester curriculum
  • Reconvene for a spring semester reunion
  • Have an annual check-in throughout your time at Lehigh

Personalized Advising

Explore Lehigh students will benefit from a multi-pronged approach to advising. Lehigh’s Director of Coordinated Advising will serve as the primary academic advisor for each student in the cohort. In addition, each student will be paired with a faculty member with shared interests and a career coach in the Center for Career and Professional Development, ensuring well-rounded advice on how to best chart your unique course of undergraduate study.

Coursework

As an Explore Lehigh student, you’ll have the opportunity to spend one semester taking courses that are part of the typical first semester experience, such as math and writing, alongside an integrative course that is designed to introduce students to diverse fields across the four undergraduate colleges.

Foundational Course - IC 096: Intercollege Experience (3 credits)
The three-credit Intercollege Experience course is designed to introduce students to a small sample of the wide range of disciplines offered at Lehigh University while encouraging them to examine their own interests and academic goals. This module-based course emphasizes community-building through group work that promotes cross-disciplinary collaboration. Students are asked to consider solutions to complex problems, which the instructor of each iteration of the course will determine, taking into consideration the interests of students in the cohort. Faculty from each undergraduate college serve as guest speakers, who help students to understand how the arts, humanities, sciences, health, engineering, and business can intersect to resolve local and global problems. Students are encouraged to engage in regular reflection to discern their academic interests.

All students will need to take (10 credits)

  • WRIT 01 (3)
  • Math (area of interest and ALEKS will determine which course, likely 4 credits)
  • Foundation Course - Intercollege experience (3)

Take 2 of the 4 courses listed: (3-7 credits)

  • College of Arts and Sciences: Big Questions Seminar
  • College of Business: Foundations of Business
  • College of Health: The Value of a Career in Health
  • P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science: Introduction to Engineering Practice
1st

year for the Explore Lehigh program is 2025-26

4

undergraduate colleges for students to experience

"This initiative aims to offer students a structured program that supports their exploration of Lehigh’s undergraduate colleges and helps them make thoughtful, timely decisions about their academic direction."
- Terry-Ann Jones, Deputy Provost for Undergraduate Education

How to Apply

Interested students in the upcoming Class of 2030, can apply directly to the program through the Common Application beginning August 1, 2025.

Apply for admission to Lehigh

 

Students recently admitted to the Class of 2029 were not able to apply directly during their admissions process. However, the Office of Admissions will contact all deposited students who are eligible for this program to invite them to participate. If you were admitted to the Class of 2029 and would like to learn more, please contact admissions@lehigh.edu or call (610) 758-3100.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Explore Lehigh application is part of the Lehigh University application on Common Application. Visit the Applying to Lehigh page to learn more about applying to Lehigh.

Students must be deemed admissible to each of the four undergraduate colleges to be admitted to the program. This ensures they are qualified for whichever college they choose to matriculate to.

No. All students admitted to Explore Lehigh must be deemed admissible to each of the four undergraduate colleges.

Explore Lehigh students will be eligible for the Computer Science and Business (CSB), Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE) and Integrated Degree in Engineering and Arts & Sciences (IDEAS) programs.

Contact

For further questions about Explore Lehigh, email lehighadvising@lehigh.edu.