Results of a 1979 telephone survey of undergraduate leavers and persisters and the University of California, Berkeley campus are presented. One hundred and fifty new freshmen and new junior transfer students entering in the fall quarter of 1977 who were not enrolled by winter quarter 1979 or had not graduated were surveyed and compared to 56 students who did not leave. Students admitted with some of the usual entrance requirements waived were also studied. A high proportion of students with grade point averages of less than 2.00 on a 4.00 scale cited their poor academic performance as a reason for leaving. The main reason stated for leaving, across all leavers, was a lack of motivation. Most of those who left became students elsewhere, with the majority transferring to a community college. Of those who left to become employed, seven out of ten became fully employed and half considered themselves full-time permanent employees. There were many response similarities between the leavers who entered as freshmen and those who entered as juniors. Suggestions for decreasing attrition are included. (SW)