More and more academically underprepared students enter our colleges and universities, and research suggests that traditional efforts at remediation can exacerbate the self-doubt often experienced by at-risk students. While learning communities have been shown to offer under prepared students the support they need to become active participants in their learning, the success of learning communities for this population depends upon the intentional implementation of four key features: integrative learning, collaborative classrooms, co-curricular support, and increased faculty-student interaction.