An evaluation project conducted at Dona Ana County Occupational Education Branch of New Mexico State University was designed to compare the effectiveness of Century 21 with Gregg Shorthand. Two classes of shorthand students were set up as experimental groups (due to student attrition, two more groups were added during the third semester). Their performance was assessed for four semesters based on the following performance measures: dictation speed, scores on theory tests, scores on brief form tests, and overall average grades. In addition, survival rates of students with different ethnic and language backgrounds were studied. After the fourth semester, the overall results indicated that: Gregg and Century 21 are equally successful methods in teaching shorthand to college students; Century 21 students take shorthand at higher speeds; Century 21 does not appeal to minority students or bilingual students any more than Gregg does; students with higher American College Testing (ACT) math scores are more successful in both shorthand courses than those students with low ACT math scores while English ACT and overall ACT scores show less of an influence on shorthand success. (The appendixes of this document include excerpts from the previous semester evaluations and a bibliography on shorthand prognosis. Results of the first, second, and third semester evaluations are reported in separate documents.) (BM)