THE STAFF OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE TESTING PROGRAM DEVELOPED QUESTIONNAIRES, CHECKLISTS AND PROCEDURES DESIGNED TO EXPRESS IN QUANTITATIVE TERMS THE CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDENTS AND THE JUNIOR COLLEGES THEY ATTEND. SINCE CORRELATIONS AMONG STUDENT AND COLLEGE CHARACTERISTICS WERE LOW TO MODERATE, ONLY VERY BROAD CONCLUSIONS COULD BE DRAWN. TWO-YEAR COLLEGES SCORING HIGH IN "CONVENTIONALISM", "HIGH COST", AND "PRIVATE CONTROL" FACTORS TEND TO ATTRACT MORE TALENTED AND INTELLECTUALLY ORIENTED STUDENTS THAN DO COLLEGES RATING HIGH IN "TECHNOLOGICAL SPECIALIZATION", WHERE THE TREND IS TOWARD VOCATIONAL ORIENTATION. LARGE COLLEGES TYPICALLY HAVE MORE VARIED ENROLLMENTS THAN DO SMALL COLLEGES. COLLEGES SCORING HIGH IN "TRANSFER EMPHASIS" ATTRACT STUDENTS FROM A WIDE RANGE OF ACADEMIC POTENTIAL. SUCH VARIATIONS AMONG STUDENTS IN COLLEGES WITH HIGH TRANSFER RATES SUGGEST THAT THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE MAY BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN CHARACTERISTICS OF ENTERING STUDENTS IN THE DETERMINATION OF TRANSFER RATES. (AD)