Colleges without tenure are rare; in the United States 97 percent of research universities and 99 percent of four-year public colleges offer tenure. This study, one in a series about the priorities of the professoriate, examines the 9 percent of private colleges that operate without tenure; some are highly specialized professional schools, others are newer, innovative institutions; the majority are small (fewer than 1,500 students) and are neither particularly selective nor well-endowed. Five institutions were visited for the study two "purebreds," which operate entirely without tenure, and three "hybrids," which offer tenure as a secondary option to nontenure-track positions; 117 interviews were conducted with presidents, senior academic officers and junior and senior faculty. The paper reviews the key contractual elements of both types of arrangements and then considers policy implications and faculty reactions. The paper offers the following "conclusions" with some reservations: term contracts are not a solution for tenure problems; term contracts provide both academic freedom and economic security; term contracts place a premium on the trustworthiness of administrators; term contract evaluations have a strong resemblance to post-tenure reviews; term contracts provide insurance for the institution in crises; most junior faculty on contract or in nontenure-track appointments prefer these options to tenure; most faculty on contract find academic life agreeable. (Contains 14 references.) (CH)