A study was conducted to determine the strategies used by 145 community colleges in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to meet the educational needs of Hispanic students and to investigate the relationship between these strategies and Hispanic student retention rate. Questionnaires were sent to the presidents of Southwestern community colleges with a 5% or greater Hispanic enrollment, requesting information on retention rates and strategies in effect. Study findings, based on responses from 88 colleges, included the following: (1) 50% of the colleges actively recruited Hispanic students; (2) 37.5% offered financial aid; (3) 92% provided academic advising about transferability of courses, 70.5% career counseling into selective programs, 88.6% academic support services, and 21.5% special orientation; (4) 38.6% offered bilingual courses, 55.6% English as a Second Language (ESL) courses, 50% Hispanic studies courses, and 100% developmental courses; (5) 89.8% had mandatory assessment, and 64.8% had mandatory placement; (6) 31.6% provided staff development to increase sensitivity to the problems of Hispanic students; and (7) 2.6% had a proportional ethnic composition of faculty and staff. An analysis of retention rates showed that retention was improved by proportional financial aid, career counseling into selective programs, bilingual education, ESL classes, and Hispanic studies classes. The study report includes an extensive literature review on population trends, the Hispanic socioeconomic cycle, Hispanic participation in higher education, and recruitment and retention programs and strategies. The study instrument and a list of 111 references are appended. (EJV)