A dropout survey was conducted in 1974 at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Education Center, Kankakee, Illinois, to determine why only 38% of its one thousand adult basic education students completed their studies and earned a GED diploma. A variety of formats was used to contact some of those who had been students between 1968 and 1974, including: door-to-door survey, with 121 responses; correspondence survey, with 57 letters in response; taped interviews, involving 4 students; telephone survey, 150 calls to former students. Results of the surveys are presented in table form and in the words of the participants themselves, indicating multiple variables for the interruption of studies, including health, living conditions, employment, transportation, and family problems. Responses indicated a very positive attitude on the part of the students toward the center, even when external factors made it necessary for them to drop out of class. Thirty-three percent of the center graduates are presently enrolled in a college program. (LH)