The purposes of the document are to report on the status of social studies minicourse programs in selected midwestern high schools and to provide information to schools regarding obstacles to minicourses as alternatives to traditional programs. A 1976-77 survey of 265 midwestern high schools determined that only 60 (23%) of the schools offered minicourses in social studies, although advantages of minicourses have been confirmed by numerous educational studies. The document cites studies and articles which suggest that social studies is particularly adaptable to the minicourse approach due to the variety of cognitive and behavioral objectives generated by social studies emphases on citizenship development, interdisciplinary studies, global education, skill development, and social science education. As a follow-up to the 1976 survey, questionnaires were sent to schools which indicated they did not offer minicourses. The 141 responses identified major objections to minicourse programs. Objections included a preference for traditional academic programs, negative community attitudes, absence of perceived need, declining popularity, and especially, difficulties in implementing and managing the programs. Eight conclusions are offered, including minicourses have not substantially increased over the last five years in spite of perceived benefits. Although "Back-to-Basics" and general educational philosophical concerns mitigate somewhat against minicourses, these concerns were not perceived as important as programmatic obstacles. Tables of data and a definition of terms utilized in the analysis are presented. (Author/DB)