This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a study by the Australian Council for Educational Research (Commonwealth Advisory Committee on Advanced Education) responding to the stated purposes of the project to study the explicit and implicit objectives of the courses, the nature and extent of their content, how and by whom they are determined, how they are subdivided into years, how instruction influences learning, procedures used in evaluation of student performance, and weak and strong learning conditions. It was found that many colleges had not clearly defined their role in higher education, with a general lack of clearly defined objectives on the department level. A critical examination of course class hours should be made to reduce them, particularly in engineering and business administration. Prior to this study, no information was available on college students and their characteristics. Many instructors had never taken a course in teacher training. There is a trend towards continuous progress assessment, preferred by both students and instructors over the end of year examination only. Consideration of part-time students showed that in many cases courses were not geared to their special needs. Volumes I and II contain the report and the appendices, and are obtainable from the Australian Council for Educational Research for Aus. $5.00, plus .50 postage. Volume III, containing additional student data, is not for sale; applications for this volume should be made to Director, Australian Council for Educational Research. (Author/GDB)