STUDENT ORIENTATION TOWARD COLLEGE WAS STUDIED BY ADMINISTERING A UNIFORM BATTERY OF TESTS AND QUESTIONNAIRES, INCLUDING THE CLARK AND TROW ROLE ORIENTATION INSTRUMENT (RO), TO 1,988 ENTERING FRESHMEN AT 13 SMALL COLLEGES. IN THE SPRING, 25 PERCENT OF THESE STUDENTS WERE GIVEN MOST OF THE SAME BATTERY. STUDENTS WERE CLASSIFIED INTO FOUR TYPES ON THE BASIS OF THE RO'S--VOCATIONAL, ACADEMIC, COLLEGIATE, AND NON-CONFORMIST. THERE WAS MODERATE STABILITY OF INDIVIDUAL CHOICES BETWEEN THE FALL AND SPRING TESTING. WHEN THE COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY ENVIRONMENT SCALE (CUES) SCORES FOR EACH COLLEGE WERE CORRELATED WITH THE PERCENT OF STUDENTS FOR EACH RO, THE RESULTING COEFFICIENTS SHOWED PATTERNS CONSISTENT WITH EXPECTATION. STUDENTS HAVING DIFFERENT RO'S SHOW APPRECIABLY DIFFERENT PERSONALITY SCORES AS MEASURED BY THE OMNIBUS PERSONALITY INVENTORY (OPI). WHEN RO CHANGES ARE COMPARED WITH CUES SCORES, RO SEEMS INFLUENCED BY ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES. THE STUDY INDICATES THAT--(1) THE RO QUESTIONNAIRE ITEM IS USEFUL IN STUDYING COLLEGE STUDENT GROUPS, (2) DESPITE FAIRLY SMALL NUMBERS OF OBSERVATIONS, THE INSTRUMENT IS SENSITIVE ENOUGH TO SHOW STATISTICALLY RELIABLE RELATIONSHIPS, AND (3) THE SHORT TIME NEEDED TO ADMINISTER THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND EASE OF COMMUNICATING DATA FROM IT ARE ADVANTAGEOUS. FUTURE RESEARCH MIGHT EXPLORE THE HYPOTHESIS THAT RO IS INFLUENCED BY ENVIRONMENT. (PR)