The effectiveness of the General Studies Program at San Diego City College is evaluated in this study. The program, offered during a student's initial semester of attendance, is designed to help potentially low academic achievers succeed in college. Using random selection techniques, students were chosen from first-time enrollees who had no prior college experience and who had standard English scores of 10 or less on the American College Tests. Students were then randomly assigned to groups. The experimental groups contained 122 students who enrolled in the General Studies Program; the control groups consisted of 128 students not in the program. Sex and ethnic subgroups were formed from the principal study groups. The criteria for the study were: college persistence rate, course attrition rate, and grade point average. Performance of the study groups and subgroups was evaluated for four consecutive semesters. Tests for significant differences included adjustments for small samples and for continuity. Completion of the General Studies Program encouraged males and minority students to re-enroll for a second semester. Minority students who enrolled in the Program dropped fewer units for the first semester than minority students who did not enroll in it. There were no other statistically significant differences that could be attributed to the Program. (Author/JO)