Supporting Economic Understanding and Student Success Through Peer Assistance in an Economics Learning Center.

This article provides an overview of the Economics Learning Center (ELC) at the University of California, Irvine, a peer-assistance resource established in 2014 to support undergraduate economics students amid rising enrollment and increasing diversity, including a growing share of international and first-generation college students. The ELC offers walk-in help staffed by trained undergraduate Peer Assistants who facilitate collaborative learning in core economics, statistics, and econometrics courses, aiming to supplement faculty and TA support while fostering student community. The paper discusses the center's operations, staffing, training, usage patterns, benefits to both users and assistants, challenges including pandemic-related disruptions, and potential improvements, highlighting the ELC as a relatively low-cost model for enhancing student learning and engagement in resource-constrained academic programs.