Recent Australian government policy has focused on attracting students from under- represented and diverse groups to tertiary education with university enabling courses one pathway for these students. This trend towards broader participation has altered traditional perceptions of a typical university student and raised delivery challenges. The ability to engage these students as learners and improve their academic outcomes and confidence towards successful course completion is increasingly important to universities because of attrition costs to governments, students and higher education institutions. This paper reports on the re-development of an enabling course at an Australian university committed to breaking down barriers that restrict entry to education. Cohesion, coherence and connectedness emerged as central principles guiding leadership style, course design and development, staff-student communication and collaborative teaching and learning approaches. Data including student and staff voices, university retention and progression statistics and student unit teaching evaluations was used to evaluate the impact on student satisfaction and transition. The research highlights that building a collaborative course culture based on a 3C model of cohesion, coherence and connectedness when, used interdependently, improves students' confidence, skills and knowledge to successfully transition to undergraduate tertiary study.