Latinos have grown to be the largest minority group in the U.S. due to explosive immigration and high birth rates. While the education gap appears to narrow at the elementary and high school years, the gap significantly widens in higher education. One method of assisting students in transitioning to the academy has been first year courses (also referred to as first year courses, the "Freshman Year Experience", or orientation courses). The current study employed a matched-pairs design in comparing Latino students who had taken the course with Latino students who had not taken the course at a community college which is a designated Hispanic Serving Institution. For both males and females combined, there was not a statistically significant difference for Latinos who had taken the course with students who had not taken the course in regards to success which had as an operational definition grade point averages, ratio of credits attempted to credits earned, and graduation rates. There was also not a statistically significant difference between Latinas who had taken the course with Latinas who had not on the specified success measures. There was also not a statistically significant difference between Latinos (males only) on the same success measures. In comparing the success of Latinas to Latinos, Latinas have higher grade point averages than Latinos at the end of the first and second semesters, have higher ratios of credits attempted to credit completed at the end of the first semester, and earned degrees at higher rates; however, this was for the students who did not take the college 101 course. For Latinas and Latinos who took the course, there were no statistically significant differences.