Since the 1920s, colleges have offered how-to-study courses orientating students to the rituals of academic study. We present an historical overview of these courses by highlighting major developments including the emergence of courses that evolved from skill-based curriculum underpinned by behaviorism to strategy-based curriculum underpinned by cognitive psychology and self-regulation theories. We also focus on two unique common iterations of course categories offered today: first-year seminars, which were re-envisioned by the University of South Carolina in the 1970s, and theory-based learning strategy courses, often referred to as learning frameworks courses, which emerged in the 1970s at two Texas universities.