A well-established principle in the literature on learning, which maintains that variability of practice enhances long-term retention, served as the foundation of a summer program intended to ameliorate reading skills in incoming freshmen. During a 4-week period, students received reading instruction in the context of four areas: humanities, social/behavioral sciences, natural/physical sciences and visual arts. Reading scores increased for most participants from pre- to post-testing. Attitudes towards basic skills such as reading, writing, cooperative work and public speaking also improved from pre- to post-testing. (Contains 3 figures and 1 note.)