Ways in which institutions can attract and aid re-entry women students by offering courses, workshops and support personnel to help them refresh, upgrade, and update basic academic skills are suggested. A wide range of possible actions is included so that institutions can pursue those most appropriate to their individual circumstances. Reasons why basic skills programs and refresher courses can help re-entry women and types of courses they need are listed. Suggestions on what an institution can do are provided for each of the following areas: how to study; how to improve reading ability; how to take examinations; how to write college papers; how to brush up in math and science; how to communicate and give presentations in class; how to manage time and juggle schedules; and/or how to use new information resources in the library, language lab, and classroom. Refresher courses for graduates with degrees in science and engineering and for re-entry women in technical fields and coordination of basic skills and refresher courses with re-entry and regular academic programs are other institutional efforts. Approaches to meeting the needs of re-entry women from special population groups, such as single parents, displaced homemakers, older women, minority women and handicapped women, are considered. Information on the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and an annotated bibliography are included along with a field evaluation questionnaire for the draft of this paper. (SW)