Because of indications that many veterans were not completing correspondence courses, and apparently were not fulfilling their educational and vocational objectives, questionnaires were sent to 1,380 randomly selected veterans to identify factors affecting their selection and completion of correspondence courses. On the basis of 1,000 replies received, it was found that: (1) about 84% of those who did not complete their courses had paid for uncompleted courses, and had not been reimbursed; (2) of the 160,000 veterans who did not complete correspondence courses, it is estimated that 134,000 incurred costs of $24 million for the uncompleted lessons; (3) most veterans had enrolled in correspondence courses to learn new skills, to improve existing skills, or to earn more money; (4) major reasons given for not completing the courses were: insufficient time, loss of interest, the courses were not what had been expected, and the courses were too difficult; (5) only about 1% took advantage of VA education and vocational guidance; (6) over half of the veterans said that the VA should provide more advice and assistance on course requirements, the value of a course to an applicant, the number of veterans completing various subjects, and their suitability for certain courses or vocations as determined by aptitude tests. (Author/DB)