This paper describes some of the research and planning methodologies employed by Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) to support facility and programmatic decision making required by a 60% increase in full-time equivalent students within a 5-year period. Following a brief introduction, the paper describes the research questions considered. The next section describes the model of student decision making that served as the conceptual basis for CCP's research, as well as four research stages: understanding participation patterns in higher education, both nationally and within CCP's service area; understanding why potential students choose CCP over another institution; comparing students who enroll on-campus with those who enroll off-campus; and establishing the types of programs, academic support, and student support services that should be offered off-campus. The next sections provide methodological information and study results for the following CCP investigations: (1) environment scanning of the underlying external forces acting on students; (2) enrollment forecasting; (3) an institutional choice survey of main and off-campus students; (4) a survey of off-campus students' educational objectives, programmatic interests, and support needs; (5) a comparison of day and evening off-campus students; (6) a comparison of off-campus students who would and would not enroll on the main campus; (7) database tracking of on- and off-campus student mobility patterns; and (8) faculty and staff evaluations of academic programs and support services available off-campus. The final sections discuss the findings and describe the influence of the research on institutional policy and planning considerations. (MAB)