Nearly 48 percent of the students in Developmental Studies Mathematics courses at a major southern university during the fall of 1983 had taken college preparatory mathematics courses in high school. Some had even taken trigonometry, pre-calculus, or calculus. Yet, they were placed in university developmental studies mathematics courses because they had not met the university's criteria for regular admission (based on a sliding scale of SAT scores and high school grade point averages). These students were administered the Intermediate Algebra Skills test developed by the College Board. An item analysis was conducted to determine what algebraic skills these students lacked after nearly four years of college preparatory mathematics. More than 50 percent of these students could not solve problems involving recall of a formula or standard form such as the quadratic equation, slope of a line, the distance formula, or the slope-intercept of a line. It is recommended that high school students be provided an ongoing review of algebraic formulas (particularly linear and quadratic equations) and afforded ample opportunities to apply these formulas in problem solving situations. (Author)