The American culture's emphasis on individualism may fail to recognize that help-seeking can be an important proactive skill in the achievement domains of school and work. While research has shown that the majority of students obtain some help from peers or instructors, the study of help-seeking as a learning strategy has been virtually neglected. This study examined how help-seeking relates to cognitive learning strategies such as elaboration, metacognition, and resource management. Data were obtained from students in biology, English literature, and social science courses at four different types of higher educational institutions. Strategy use and help-seeking information were obtained using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. The use of 10 cognitive strategies was assessed: rehearsal; elaboration; memory techniques; organization; metacognitive techniques of planning, monitoring, and regulating; and resource management of one's time, study environment, and self. The results indicated that students who used various cognitive strategies were also more likely to seek help when needed. This supports the view that seeking help is an alternative means of goal accomplishment to be used when the need arises. Students who were less likely to use various strategies were also less likely to seek the help they needed. (NB)