To assess student characteristics and learn about the perceptions of college life of entering students and other representative groups of students and faculty, the Four College Study of Institutional Development within the State University of New York was conducted using the College and University Environmental Scale (CUES) and College Student Questionnaire (CSQ) as part of the evaluation instruments. CUES consists of 150 statements about college life and has 5 scales or dimensions: practicality, community, awareness, propriety, and scholarship. The subjects were: 1966 freshmen, 1966-67 upperclass sophomores, juniors and seniors, 1966-67 faculty, 1966 entering freshmen tested as sophomores in 1967, transfer students entering 2 of the colleges in Fall 1966. Scores indicated that the incoming student--both freshman and transfer--can be expected to have high expectations about an institution. But, as residence on the campus increases, expectations decrease to a "reality plateau" which is held by both faculty and upperclass students. A Table containing the CUES scores of each of the colleges' student and faculty groups is included. (JS)